Singapore Exchange (SGXL.SI), Asia’s second most valuable bourse by market capitalisation, plans to introduce trading of American Depository Receipts in coming months, sources said on Wednesday.
Posts Tagged ‘firms’
How firms fool equity analysts: Stockpickers suckered
February 4th, 2010 |
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Chief executives pull the wool over analysts’ eyes, again
HOW do you pump up the value of your company in these difficult times? One tried and tested way is to hoodwink equity analysts, according to a new study* of 1,300 corporate bosses, board directors and analysts.
The authors found that chief executives commonly respond to negative appraisals from Wall Street by managing appearances, rather than making changes that actually improve corporate governance: boards are made more formally independent, but without actually increasing their ability to control management. This is typically done by hiring directors who, although they may have no business ties to the company, are socially close to its top brass. According to James Westphal, one of the study’s co-authors, some 45% of the members of nominating committees on the boards of large American firms have “friendship” ties to the boss—though this varies widely from company to company. …
Six Singapore-listed China firms can’t repay debt, SCMP says
January 25th, 2010 |
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Six of the 11 Chinese companies listed in Singapore that sold convertible bonds between 2005 and 2008 have said they are unable to repay debts, the South China Morning Post reported, citing an investor association official.
The Securities Investors Association of Singapore asked the Chinese government to discipline the companies since Singapore doesn’t have the authority to do so, Chairman David Gerald said, according to the Hong Kong-based newspaper. The association represents 4,000 small shareholders, the report said.
Eliminate capitalist practices at public firms: Chavez
January 25th, 2010 |
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has asked for the cooperation of the national legislature in drafting laws permitting the elimination of capitalistic operating guidelines at public firms.
Chavez on his weekly radio and television show Sunday revealed the societal model he envisions, according to which public firms will not depend on their established production capacity or on [...]
Professional-services firms: Laid-off lawyers, cast-off consultants
January 21st, 2010 |
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The downturn is sorting the best professional-services firms from the rest
WHAT do you say to a recent law-school graduate? “A skinny double-shot latte to go, please.” From New York to Los Angeles, Edinburgh to Sydney, the downturn of the past two years has hit the legal profession with unprecedented severity. As even some leading law firms struggle for survival, recruitment has dried up. The lucky few who get jobs are often being told to find something else to do for now, and report for duty on some far-off date. The same is true for MBA graduates seeking jobs in management consulting. Even the mighty McKinsey is said to be postponing start dates by several months.
Given that new graduates are the grunts of the professional-services industries, earning less than anyone else and working the longest hours, the lack of demand for their services is the clearest indicator of how bad things are. Although a deeper-than-usual cyclical downturn is largely to blame—and is hitting hardest those firms that specialised in financial-market activities such as mergers and acquisitions, and private equity—it is already clear that there will be long-term structural consequences, not least a growing gap between the best firms and the rest. …
Oceanus surges by limit for 2nd day on plans to buy 2 firms
January 12th, 2010 |
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Oceanus Group, the world’s largest operator of abalone farms, surged by its daily limit for the second day in Taipei trading after it plans to buy two companies this year and sell shares in its restaurant unit as early as 2012.
Technology firms and antitrust: Here we go again
December 17th, 2009 |
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As one long-running antitrust case comes to an end, others emerge
TRUSTBUSTERS on either side of the Atlantic had seemed in permanent disagreement in 2009, at least when it came to technology firms. In January the European Commission decided to go after Microsoft for bundling its web browser with its operating system—a tactic which America’s Department of Justice (DoJ) had decided to let stand a long time before. In May the commission fined Intel €1.06 billion (then $1.44 billion) for having abused its dominance, whereas the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in Washington did not seem interested. And in November the commission objected to the proposed $7.4 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems, a troubled maker of computer hardware, by Oracle, a business-software giant—a deal that the DoJ had already approved.
Yet on December 16th, American and European antitrust regulators began playing in tune. First Neelie Kroes, Europe’s competition commissioner, announced that she had reached a settlement with Microsoft. Starting in March, all versions of Windows will come with a “choice screen” inviting users to install any of 12 different browsers. This should make Europe’s browser market more competitive, and end the decade-long antitrust action against the world’s biggest software firm. …
Firms including Google to build Asia undersea cable
December 11th, 2009 |
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A consortium including Google (GOOG.O) and KDDI Corp (9433.T) has signed a deal on Thursday to build and operate an international undersea cable system, estimated to cost US$400 million ($556 million).
Globe Telecom (GLO.PS), part owned by Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), and units of Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) and Reliance Communications (RLCM.BO) are also part of the consortium.
IT Firms Uneasy with Some Health Care Reforms
October 6th, 2009 |
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A new survey shows the IT industry generally supports health care reform, including a public option, but concerns center on higher taxes and more government involvement.
– Mirroring the current congressional debate, the IT industry generally supports health care reform but is uneasy with many of the legislative solutions currently on the table. According to a survey released Oct. 6 by CompTIA, the IT industry is closely watching the debate, particularly provisions inv…
Drug firms buy vaccine-makers: Shot in the dark
October 1st, 2009 |
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Pharmaceutical giants may regret their stampede into the vaccine business
THE logic in favour of purchases of vaccine firms seems irrefutable. The world is in the grip of a swine-flu pandemic, which will probably infect 40% or more of the human race. Vaccines are likely to be in demand for some time. And the vaccine business has high barriers to entry and, in recent years, attractive margins.
Little wonder that three such acquisitions were announced this week. Abbott Laboratories, an American drugs firm, said it will pay €4.5 billion ($6.6 billion) to acquire vaccines and other pharmaceutical interests from Solvay, a Belgian firm. Johnson & Johnson, an American drugs giant, agreed to pay €302m for an 18% stake in Crucell, a Dutch biotech firm known for its vaccine technology. And Merck, another American drugs giant, revealed that it had bought marketing rights for a flu vaccine made by Australia’s CSL. These are the latest in a series of deals. In 2007 AstraZeneca, a British drugs firm, bought MedImmune, a vaccine-maker, for over $15 billion. Part of the justification for Pfizer’s $68 billion purchase of Wyeth earlier this year was the latter’s expertise in vaccines. …
China’s struggling smaller firms: Small fish in a big pond
September 10th, 2009 |
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They do more for China’s economy than big firms—but get less help
CHINA’S massive, state-backed firms are becoming ever more visible on the world stage, but the country can trace a great deal of its recent economic success to countless small and medium enterprises. Today, as China continues to grapple with the effects of the global slowdown, these smaller firms are enduring a large share of the economic pain.
Virtually non-existent in 1979 when China took its first steps away from central-planning orthodoxy, its smaller companies numbered around 1m by 1990 and 8m by 2001. Today they total around 60m. The smallest have just a handful of workers, and the largest of the medium-sized ones, according to the government’s definitions, employ no more than 2,000 people. Yet together they account for 60% of China’s GDP and half its tax revenues. More than 95% are privately owned and, since they are largely free of the political and bureaucratic friction that plagues larger enterprises, they are among the most creative and nimble of China’s economic actors. They are responsible for 66% of the country’s patent applications and more than 80% of its new products. …
Big drug firms embrace generics: Friends for life
August 6th, 2009 |
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Big pharmaceutical firms are learning to love their erstwhile enemies, makers of generic drugs
ONE recent evening, the most powerful man in the world posed an existential question to those around him. “If there’s a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half the price for the thing that’s going to make you well?” Thus Barack Obama captured one of two powerful global trends forcing pharmaceutical giants to look for a new business model.
Cost-conscious governments everywhere are bashing pricey patented drugs even as they boost cheap generics. In the past few weeks regulators in America and the European Union have announced separate crackdowns on anti-competitive practices, including “pay-for-delay” deals, whereby big drugmakers pay generics firms to delay the launch of competitors to drugs coming off patent. From Japan to Germany, governments are liberalising drug markets, sweeping away barriers to generics. …
MoD sees Iraq jobs for Serbian firms
August 3rd, 2009 |
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Minister of Defense Dragan Šutanovac said that he is certain Serbian companies will be hired to work on reconstruction projects in Iraq. “If the government and ministries react in an adequate way, I am convinced that there will be jobs for a large number of Serbian construction companies. We are putting in a lot of efforts to open ourselves up to that market,†Šutanovac said.
Advertising firms seek sidelines: Stretching the accordion
July 30th, 2009 |
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The recession forces agencies to branch out
ADVERTISING agencies have been worrying for years that advertising alone will not pay enough to keep them afloat. This year their clients’ slashed ad budgets have heightened that anxiety. As a result, many have branched out. Richard Kirshenbaum, co-chairman of Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners (KBP), a New York-based agency, says the industry’s “business model is more like an accordion. We keep stretching it to meet our clients’ needs.” KBP has expanded by adding several divisions that are separate from its core business, including a public-relations unit and Varick Media Management, a data-analysis and investment-management firm launched last year.
KBP is not alone. Euro RSCG, a unit of Havas, a French advertising group, acquired its own music label, called The Hours, in 2008. It has signed budding artists and is hoping for their stardom, not least because it will help fill the firm’s coffers. Havas, too, has branched out into an area not typically associated with advertising by acquiring Cake, a British entertainment and event-planning agency. In May Ogilvy & Mather, a subsidiary of WPP, an advertising conglomerate, launched OgilvyEarth, which advises firms on greenery. It also started a separate Recession Marketing Practice this year to counsel companies on how to use their marketing budgets wisely. …
Pay Czar To Begin Reviewing Pay At 7 Bailed-Out Firms
July 27th, 2009 |
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Six weeks into his tenure as President Obama’s compensation czar, Kenneth Feinberg has his sights set on pay packages he thinks are too rich for companies propped up by Uncle Sam
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Lloyd Chapman: FORTUNE 500 FIRMS MASQUERADE AS SMALL BUSINESS LOBBY
July 23rd, 2009 |
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For the last seven years I have fought with the United States Government in the courts, in Congress and in the media over one simple…