Barclays bank to axe 1200

Barclays, Britain's third-largest bank, has outlined plans to axe as many as 1,200 jobs over the next two years as part of an overhaul of the group's under-performing retail banking arm. Technology upgrades will result in the closure of three processing sites at Bexleyheath in Kent, Clacton in Essex, and Dudley in the West Midlands, with the potential loss of 1,203 call centre and back office staff.

(2006-06-30 23:58:37 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Malaysia Airlines to sell headquarters to raise funds

channelnewsasia.com :

Loss-making national carrier Malaysia Airlines will sell its landmark headquarters in central Kuala Lumpur for 130 million ringgit (US$36 million) to raise cash. The 35-storey building located in the heart of the capital will be sold to its parent company, state-owned fund management firm Permodalan Nasional Berhad.

Malaysia Airlines launched a four billion ringgit (US$1.1 billion) turnaround plan in March after it posted a 1.3 billion ringgit annual loss for 2005. As part of the revamp, Malaysia Airlines has surrendered all but 19 major domestic routes to budget carrier AirAsia, and will slash its 23,000-strong staff by about 20 percent through a voluntary retrenchment scheme.

(2006-06-30 23:54:23 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

China, Australia hail new gas terminal

channelnewsasia.com :

The prime ministers of Australia and China hailed the opening of a multi-billion-dollar gas project as a symbol of the future of fast-expanding trade ties between the two nations.

Australia's John Howard and China's Wen Jiabao oversaw the opening of China's first liquefied natural gas terminal in the southern province of Guangdong, which will be supplied by Australian gas for the next 25 years. The contract, signed in 2002, involves an annual delivery of around 3.7 million tonnes of LNG and is worth A$25 billion (US$18 billion), making it Australia's largest single export deal.

The two nations also signed a deal during Wen's visit to Australia in April clearing the way for the sale of Australian uranium to China for its nuclear power industry. Australia holds about 40% of the world's uranium reserves. The two nations are also in negotiations over a free trade deal, which would be the first for China with a developed nation.

(2006-06-30 23:51:39 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Honda to build assembly plant in Indiana

cbsnews.com :

A $550 million Honda Motor Co. assembly plant will help the Japanese automaker meet a growing North American hunger for its cars and help invigorate a state hit hard by manufacturing job losses. Four other states - Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois - vied for the plant and its 2,000 jobs, but Indiana, which has lost 98,000 industrial jobs since 2000, persuaded the company to build on 1,700 acres west of Greensburg. An automotive plant typically generates jobs at supplier plants. Retailers and restaurants will also benefit from workers spending their earnings.

Honda's Kondo was enthusiastic about the company's first Indiana plant and noted that all drivers in this year's Indianapolis 500 used Honda engines. "I'd like to point out that there was not one engine failure in the race," he said. "With the racing spirit in mind, today I am happy to be able to say, 'Honda and Indiana, start your engines.'"

Honda and its larger rival, Toyota Motor Corp., have been rapidly expanding their North American manufacturing capacity to keep up with demand even as U.S. automakers General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are cutting thousands of jobs and closing plants as their market share declines.

(2006-06-30 23:46:14 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Thursday June 29, 2006

Honda, Toyota and soaring gasoline prices

autoweek.com :

Automotive News has compiled a fuel economy report card of the Big 6 automakers - General Motors, Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Nissan and Honda. The report card considers the median household income of an automaker's customers, percentage of light trucks in each company's lineup, average fleetwide fuel economy and the company's green image. The research leads to a clear conclusion: Honda and Toyota will do best if gasoline prices continue to rise.

Ford, DaimlerChrysler and GM appear the most exposed to gasoline price hikes, largely because they sell a higher proportion of light trucks. Their customers also tend to have less household income, their corporate average fuel economy ratings are worse, and they have a poorer public image when it comes to environmental sensitivity.

With a product mix dominated by cars, Honda would seem the obvious choice to have the best fleet fuel economy ratings. Sure enough, the EPA calculates Honda's corporate average fuel economy rating at 25.1 mpg [10.7 km/l] - the best among the Big 6. Toyota was second, followed by Nissan. Pulling up the rear was Ford, with a fleet CAFE rating of 19.5 mpg [8.3 km/l]. And as for green image, both Toyota and Honda can credit that to early development of hybrid vehicles.

(2006-06-29 12:46:01 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Wednesday June 28, 2006

Singapore electricity tariff to go up next quarter

channelnewsasia.com :

Electricity in Singapore will cost more from July to September, due to higher fuel oil prices. It will be up by an average of 3.24% or 0.66 cents per kWh. Domestic users, for example, will have to pay 21.15 cents for every kWH of electricity, up from 20.49 cents currently.

The electricity tariffs are reviewed on a quarterly basis. SP Services says for the period July 1 to September 30, they are pegged to a higher fuel oil price of $87.49 per barrel, compared to $81.23 for the previous quarter. Fuel oil prices have been escalating especially in recent years, pushing electricity tariffs to the highest to date.

- Actually, I'm not quite sure why SP Services is pegging electricity prices to fuel oil prices, when 80% of Singapore's electricity is generated from natural gas.

- Also, check out the chart in the PDF below. Observe that the electricity rate was 15.80 c/KWh about a couple of years ago (Apr/Jul 2004), and it is now going to be 21.15 c/KWh. That's an increase of 33.86%. Has *your* salary gone up by 33%? How's that for inflation, eh?

See also :

1. SP Services press release (pdf)

(2006-06-28 12:55:51 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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