More technicians join Garuda unit

JAKARTA: More than 90 percent of national flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia's maintenance workers have agreed to be transferred to a subsidiary the airline plans to set up, the airline said in a press release on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, 2,490, or 90.6 percent, of the total 2,750 technicians working in the firm's maintenance unit had agreed to join PT Garuda Maintenance Facility Aero-Asia (GMF-AA), while the remaining 260 technicians had yet to make up their minds, the airline said.

The deadline for the remaining technicians to decide was Aug. 7.

As a part of the government's 2002 - 20003 public sector master plan, Garuda is seeking to concentrate on core flight services, and as a result will spin off its non-core business units, including the maintenance unit.

Garuda has thus been trying to persuade its maintenance workers to move to GMF-AA, which it set up in 2002.

However, some of the technicians have been refusing to be transferred for months arguing that GMF-AA was a new company that lacked clear plans and strategies. -JP

PT PAL refurbishes 2 ships

JAKARTA: State-owned shipbuilder PT PAL has successfully refurbished two vessels belonging to the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, the company said on Wednesday.

PT PAL's president director, Adwin H. Suryohadiprodjo, said in a press release that the company had delivered the refurbished vessels to Director General of Customs and Excise Edi Abdulrahaman in Surabaya.

"As a result of the refurbishment, the functions of the vessels have been improved and they are now as good as new," Adwin said in the press release.

The vessels account for two of the 28 patrol boats belonging to the directorate general.

Of these, PAL has been working on refurbishing some 12 vessels since February 2001. The repairs includes engine replacements, revamping interiors, upgrading electronics and electrical systems, as well as work on the vessels' hulls.

The Directorate General of Customs and Excise originally bought the 28 patrol boats from PT PAL Indonesia.--JP

Astra Says blast won't hurt sales

JAKARTA: Indonesian car maker PT Astra International said Wednesday a bomb blast that occurred in the capital Tuesday won't hurt its performance this year, and forecast sales to expand 3.9% from 2002.

"The bombing won't hurt our sales performance," Astra's president Budi Setiadharma told reporters.

Setiadharma said the company expects its car sales this year to rise to around 330,000 units from 317,761 units a year earlier.

He said he expects consumers' purchasing power to remain steady despite the rupiah's decline following the bombing. The government has strong foreign exchange reserves, which would enable it to stabilize the local currency in the near term, he said.

Astra also said it plans to pay an interim cash dividend of Rp 50 per share.

During the first six months of this year, the company sold 61.919 vehicles, compared with 60,677 units a year ago. -- Dow Jones

Japan Tobacco seeks 4,000 job cuts

TOKYO: The world's third largest tobacco firm Japan Tobacco (JT) said Wednesday it will offer voluntary retirement in an effort to cut 4,000 jobs while deciding to stop selling Marlboro brand cigarettes in Japan.

The measures are part of a medium-term management plan from April 2003 to March 2006 to help offset a gradual decline in tobacco consumption, the company said in a statement.

Under the streamlining move, JT is to close one third of 17 tobacco factories in Japan by March 2006. JT has already announced a plan to reduce the number of plants to 17 from the current 25 by the end of March 2005.

The tobacco giant also said it would cut its 31 sales branches across the nation by 20 percent by March 2006.

"It is expected that approximately 4,000 jobs will become redundant" as a result of cost reduction measures, JT said.

"The company will offer a voluntary retirement package to eligible workers" in Japan, it added.

As of March 2003, the troubled firm had 17,400 employees in Japan. -- AFP

EU charge Microsoft abuses continue

BRUSSELS: Backed by new evidence, the European Union on Wednesday accused Microsoft Corp. of trying to monopolize markets for server software and audiovisual players and gave the U.S. giant a last chance to defend itself before demanding changes in the ubiquitous Windows operating system.

The EU's executive Commission, which has been investigating Microsoft for four years, said recently collected information from businesses across Europe and the United States confirmed that abuses were "still ongoing."

"We have now a very strong case. The case as it stands now is too strong to ignore for the company at issue," said Commission spokesman Tilman Lueder. Wednesday's information did not include new allegations but substantiated existing complaints and Lueder said Microsoft could still face fines.

The Commission specifically charges Microsoft with unfairly leveraging the "overwhelmingly dominant position" Windows has in personal computers into the market for servers, which tie those desktop computers together. -- AP

HSBC gets license in China

BEIJING: HSBC Holdings is the latest foreign bank to be allowed limited access to buying yuan-denominated Chinese stocks under a new policy, the government said Wednesday.

The license granting the bank status as qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs) was issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the commission said on its website.

A number of foreign banks have been approved as QFIIs, from UBS AG and Nomura Securities Co. Ltd. in May to Deutsche Bank earlier this week.

In March, HSBC Holdings Plc was among a group of foreign and local banks appointed as custodians charged with providing securities settlement and custody services for QFIIs.

China launched the QFII plan in hopes of lifting its ailing yuan-denominated A-share market and help push forward reform of the domestic capital markets. -- AFP

Bayer sees net profit drop 56%

FRANKFURT: German chemicals and pharmaceuticals maker Bayer said Wednesday its net profit fell 56 percent in the second quarter from a year ago, blaming the weak economy and issuing a cautious outlook for the rest of the year.

Profit in the April-June period fell to 128 million euros (US$145 million) from 293 million euros in the same quarter a year ago. The 2002 figure was boosted by a one-time gain of 269 million from selling Bayer's remaining stake in its Agfa-Gevaert photography unit.

"For the time being, we cannot expect any stimulus for our business through an improvement in the economy," chief executive Werner Wenning said in a statement.

He said the company would have to press on with internal cost- cutting and restructuring in order to improve earnings.

Bayer said weak demand and a stronger euro had hurt sales at key divisions such as health care, polymers and chemicals.

Overall sales fell by 3.3 percent to 7.26 billion (US$8.20 billion); however, Bayer said that, figured in local currencies, sales rose 7.3 percent. -- AP