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Sunday, 24 November 2024
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European Business News (96-07-10)European Business News (EBN) Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The European Business News Server at <http://www.ebn.co.uk/>Page last updated July 10 8:30 CETCONTENTS
[01] Europe's biggest-ever investment deal goes to WalesSouth Korea's LG conglomerate signed a deal Wednesday to invest dlrs 2.6 billion in Britain to produce semiconductors and electronic goods.Europe's biggest-ever foreign investment deal will bring 6,100 jobs as well as thousands more spin off jobs to Newport, South Wales, the LG Group said. The LG Group, formerly known as Lucky-Goldstar, is South Korea's third largest conglomerate. Under the first phase of the construction, LG Electronics Inc. will invest dlrs 350 million to construct an electronics plant by the end of 1997. The plant will churn out 2 million monitors, 3 million picture tubes for computers and TVs, and components. [02] Lycos and Bertelsmann target German surfersLycos Inc. and Bertelsmann AG have formed a partnership to create and sell a German-language Internet search service and other products throughout Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland, reports Wednesday's Wall Street Journal.The partnership, to be announced Wednesday, is Lycos's bid to outpace other Internet navigation companies in the fast-growing European market. Many current search engines already offer the ability to identify isolated foreign words on the Internet's World Wide Web. But Lycos's German service would be the first to actually operate in German, said Lycos Chief Executive Robert Davis. [03] 'New player joins MGM battle'The investment banker handling the sale of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. has reportedly asked potential buyers to submit new offers for the revived movie studio. Lazard Freres and Co. told the prospects it wants the new bids by Thursday and hopes to reach a decision by Monday, the New York Times reported Tuesday. The bidders include Polygram NV, News Corp., Morgan Creek Productions and the investment firm Safari Acquisitions, the paper said. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Australian television company Seven Network Ltd. has joined with MGM management to bid about dlrs 1.1 billion for the studio. News Corp., the global media concern headed by Rupert Murdoch, owns 15 percent of Seven Network.[04] Germany June Jobless Up 3,000Germany's jobs market remained weak in June, with the only upturn due to seasonal factors after the country's particularly hard winter, the Federal Labor Office said Tuesday.'At the moment, we only see a seasonal normalization after the extreme winter,' said Labor Office President Bernhard Jagoda. For all of Germany, unemployment rose by a seasonally-adjusted 3,000, in line with analysts' expectations. However, developments were worse than expected in western Germany and slightly better than expected in the eastern part of the country. The German government adjusted upward its expectations for the country's average 1996 unemployment total to as high as 4.0 million people from the 3.8 million that the Federal Labor Office previously forecast. [05] Deutsche Bank set for sweeping reorganisationDeutsche Bank AG is expected to unveil a sweeping reorganisation of its senior management Tuesday in an attempt to create clearer lines of responsibility in its day-to-day operations, Tuesday's Wall Street Journal Europe reports.The move, to be approved at a meeting of the bank's supervisory board, will confirm the board's status and fundamental equality of all 12 members of the current management board. But management-board members' responsibilities will be more clearly split along strategic and operational lines following a restructuring of the bank's divisions according to core businesses such as investment, retail and corporate banking. [06] Japan paints upbeat economic pictureJapan's economy continues to recover at a mild pace, underpinned by steady growth in personal consumption, housing investment, capital outlays and industrial production, the Economic Planning Agency (EPA) reported Tuesday.But the rise in the jobless rate to a record 3.5% in May and lingering concerns about whether the economy will manage the shift to one led by private-sector demand from one powered primarily by public policy-induced growth suggest that monetary policy should remain loose for the time being, the EPA said in its monthly report for June. [07] UK Treasury revises down growth forecastThe British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kenneth Clarke, Tuesday revised downwards his forecast for British gross domestic product growth in 1996 to 2.5%, from the 3.0% he forecast in his November budget. Speaking in an interview on EBN he said, "Everybody is now revising down their forecasts. So I think of all the major industrial economies in western Europe, at 2.5 percent we're ahead of the field." Clarke spoke after Tuesday's release of the Treasury's summer forecast, which projected public-sector borrowing this year at 27 billion pounds, up from the 22.4 billion pounds forecast in November.[08] French government and unions to negotiate shorter workweekThe French government has agreed to negotiate with powerful labour unions on a shorter workweek, a move aimed easing 12.4% unemployment by spreading jobs around.But Prime Minister Alain Juppe said Monday he doesn't want to legislate shorter working hours. Instead, Juppe said he'll leave it to companies and unions to hammer out an acceptable compromise. With joblessness close to all-time high levels and climbing, Juppe's government is under pressure to find ways to put nearly 3.2 million unemployed French back to work. By shortening the workweek to 35 hours from the typical 39 hours now, government and union leaders hope to bring more people into the workplace. From the European Business News (EBN) Server at http://www.ebn.co.uk/European Business News (EBN) Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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