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European Business News (96-07-02)European Business News (EBN) Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The European Business News Server at <http://www.ebn.co.uk/>Page last updated July 2 14:30 CETCONTENTS
[01] CS Holding shares surge on back of job cutsannounced Tuesday it would cut 5,000 jobs worldwide under a plan to regroup under two banks, Credit Suisse and CS First Boston.The parent bank, CS Holding AG, said 1,500 of the jobs lost would be outside Switzerland and that the changeover would take two to three years. The annoucement came nearly three months after Switzerland's largest bank, Union Bank of Switzerland, rejected CS Holding's overtures of merger that would have created the biggest banking company in Europe. [02] Dollar breaches 110 yen barrierThe U.S. dollar climbed to the 110 yen line in Tokyo on Tuesday for the first time since the end of January 1994, due partly to a rumor of the liquidation of a Japanese nonbank finance company.The dollar was pushed up on buying mainly from foreign speculators, though a spokesman for the institution, Nichiei Finance, denied the rumor, traders said. The U.S. currency was traded at 110.04-06 yen at 4 p.m., up from 109.71-75 yen at 9 a.m. and also up from late Monday's quote of 109.56-61 yen in New York. [03] Italy's Mediaset shares up for saleAlthough risks exist, the public offer of shares in Italian television and advertising company Mediaset SpA is destined to be the summer box office hit of this investment season, analysts say.Investors have already demonstrated heavy interest in the offer, which is scheduled to run from Tuesday to Friday. According to Italian banking sources, total requests for the offer in the pre-registration phase last week amounted to about seven to eight times the available number of shares. [04] Italy still aims to join single currencyItalian Treasury Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi still hopes to see Italy participate in the debut of the third phase of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), according comments made in an interview published Tuesday.While its current rate of economic growth doesn't allow Italy to satisfy certain budget criteria in time for the debut of the single currency, the Prodi government could still toughen its three-year targets later this year if economic growth and interest rate trends allow, he said. Ciampi made the comments in an interview with Italy's largest daily, Il Corriere della Sera. [05] Commodities regulators agree on international co-operationJapanese, U.S. and British regulators have agreed to speedily inform one another if they notice signs of manipulation in commodities markets that are common to all three countries, a senior Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) official said.Naoaki Kurumada, director of the commercial affairs office at Japan's MITI, told Dow Jones News Services he met with U.S. and British regulators last week, when they were in Japan investigating illicit copper trading by an employee of Sumitomo Corp. Sumitomo announced last month that Yasuo Hamanaka, its star copper trader, may have lost $1.8 billion through unapproved trading activities over the course of a decade. [06] Digital predict 4th quarter revenue lossesDigital Equipment Corp.'s (DEC) fourth quarter results will be ''well below'' its expectations.Fourth-quarter profits will be significantly below current estimates and revenue will be lower than the year-ago quarter. For the year-ago fourth quarter ended July 1, 1995, Digital earned $159.8 million, or $1.01 a share, on revenues of $3.75 billion. In a press release, the computer maker attributed the outlook to the ''unacceptable'' financial performance of its personal computer business and a slowdown in several European markets. The disappointing outlook comes despite continued strong growth in Digital's 64-bit Alpha products and services, Digital will record a $475 million restructuring charge in the fourth quarter to cover the costs associated with the elimination of about 7,000 positions worldwide over the next 12 months and related facility consolidations. [07] Japan consumption tax rise to inflate prices by 1.5%Japan's consumer prices will rise by around 1.5% in fiscal 1997 as a result of the 2 percentage point hike in the consumption tax imposed on almost all goods and services sold in Japan next April, the Economic Planning Agency said Tuesday.The rise in the tax from the current 3% to 5% is set to go into effect at the start of the next fiscal year on April 1, 1997. [08] Oil prices surge as the US dismiss Iraqi handling of UN's oil-for-food planIraq's resumption of oil exports to buy food and medicine for its people hit a major snag Monday when the United States said it opposes Baghdad's plan for distributing goods bought with the profits.Iraq accepted a U.N. offer in May that would allow it to export dlrs 2 billion worth of oil to buy humanitarian goods to alleviate the effects of six years of U.N. sanctions imposed after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. But before the oil can flow, the United Nations must approve an Iraqi distribution plan and draw up a separate list of procedures governing exports. Last week, Iraq submitted a 700-page distribution _Page last updated July 2 14:30 CET_ plan. From the European Business News (EBN) Server at http://www.ebn.co.uk/European Business News (EBN) Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |