LONDON (AFX) – Cookson Group PLC announced 80 job losses among a fundamental restructuring of its manufacturing operation which includes the closure of its Wrexham factory and the majority of its Birmingham stamping operation both of which will transfer to Thailand.

The electronics, ceramics and precious metals company said it is proposing a fundamental restructuring of its manufacturing business which has continued to suffer from weakening demand in the industry overall and increasing competition from low-cost imports.

It added certain other products will increasingly be sourced from the group’s US-based precious metals business and its Dublin sales office will close, with the Irish market being served direct from the UK as well as through a local distributor.

A statement from the company said, as well as the job losses, the initiatives will result in annualised cost savings of approximately 2.0 mln stg, at a one-off cash restructuring cost in 2007 of approximately 1.8 mln stg and capital expenditure of 600,000 stg.

Cookson, which consists of a manufacturing operation producing alloy materials, components and semi-finished and finished jewellery, and a distribution and logistics operation supplying these products to manufacturers, designers, independent jewellers and retailers, said trading in its UK Precious Metals business, meanwhile, has continued in line with expectations over recent months.

However, it added, the UK market remains subject to increasing low cost imports and hence these measures are necessary in order to ensure competitiveness.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

nes

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HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) – Shares across the Asia-Pacific region closed higher, with Tokyo rising on a weaker yen and the Hong Kong and Australian markets trading at new record highs, dealers said.

Tokyo shares closed higher as the yen’s continued weakness against the dollar buoyed hopes that Japanese companies may upgrade their earnings forecasts for the fiscal year ending March, dealers said.

A number of big firms are reporting their nine months to December results in coming weeks.

The blue-chip Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed up 113.74 points or 0.66 pct at 17,424.18, off a high of 17,484.59.
The TOPIX index of all issues listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s first section ended the session up 16.12 points or 0.94 pct at 1,730.33, off a high of 1,733.15.

Hoya, the largest Japanese maker of eyeglasses, released its April-December results and year to March projections during the afternoon session. Dealers said the figures disappointed market players, who sold off the stock, which sent its share price tumbling, but this did not dent broader market sentiment.

‘Investors had been particularly bullish on Hoya, which had posted strong earnings recently and had been in place to benefit from a weaker yen. Although Hoya’s projections failed to impress the market, hopes for more favorable earnings announcements in the coming weeks persisted, offsetting the negative reaction on the broader market,’ said Hiroyuki Fukunaga, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities.

Australian shares closed at fresh record highs as investors bought resource stocks after base metal prices such as copper rebounded in London trading on Friday, dealers said.

Energy and bank stocks also rose, which supported buying of the wider market.

The S&P;/ASX 200 jumped 53.5 points or 0.94 pct to a record close at 5,726.6, surpassing last Monday’s record close of 5,673.8.

The key index closed off a fresh intra-day record of 5,739.8 and above the low for the day of 5,688.5.

The broader All Ordinaries index climbed 51.8 points to a fresh record close of 5,703.9, also beating the previous record close of 5,652.1 set last Friday, and setting a fresh intra-day record of 5,715.5.

Hong Kong shares were up sharply in afternoon trade, hitting a new highs on the back of strong gains in HSBC and China Mobile, dealers said.

The two index heavyweights were boosted by gains in the prices of their American depositary receipts on Friday, they said, noting that HSBC is being boosted by expectations that its US unit may fare better than previously thought while China Mobile has been lifted by strong subscriber numbers.

At 3.40 pm the Hang Seng Index had gained 404.92 points or 1.99 pct at 20,732.64.

The index’s previous all-time intraday-high was 20,554.58 hit on Jan 3.

In mainland China, A-shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen closed higher amid strong capital inflows with banks, automakers and retailers gaining ground, dealers said.

Over 120 companies closed up their daily limits of 10 pct.

The Shanghai A-share Index surged 105.87 points or 3.56 pct to 3,080.75 and the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 29.36 points or 4.22 pct at 725.79, a new all time high, on turnover of 50.52 bln yuan.
Seoul shares closed slightly higher, rebounding from a steep decline in early trade, as futures-linked program buying picked up late in the session, dealers said.

After a mixed Friday close on Wall Street, the local bourse fell below firm support at 1,350 points at one stage, with all major players unloading shares.

But it managed to finish in positive territory toward the close, after the stronger performance by other major Asian markets, they noted.

Large cap IT and steel makers posted gains while retailers and builders turned sharply lower.

The KOSPI index closed up 2.85 points or 0.21 pct at 1,363.41, after moving between 1,348.46 and 1,364.67.

PARIS (AFX) – Airbus is to freeze the development of a cargo version of its A380 plane after UPS decided to cancel the only remaining order for the model, Les Echos reported without citing sources.
According to the French daily, UPS may announce next week the cancellation of its order for ten A380 cargo planes.
After cancellations by Fedex and ILFC, due to delays in the A380 programme, UPS’ decision to withdraw its order means that Airbus will have to suspend the project.
Such a postponement would let Airbus free up 1 bln eur in development costs and focus on the passenger version of the A380.
Les Echos said UPS decided some time ago to cancel its order but Airbus asked it to delay the announcement in order to protect a runway extension project in Hamburg, necessary for the future development of the A380-cargo.
It quoted a UPS spokesman as saying that ‘at the moment we are talking,’ the company was still weighing its options regarding the A380 order.
The Hamburg runway project is being challenged by local associations, and a ruling is due from a German court today.
paris@afxnews.com
gt/mjs/amb
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VILNIUS (AFX) – French energy giant Electricite de France (EDF) would consider investing in a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania if offered, a senior executive said.

‘The decision to build a new, modern atomic power plant is very important and forward-looking,’ Bruno Lescoeur, EDF senior executive vice president for international businesses, said during a meeting with Lithuanian economy minister Vytas Navickas yesterday.

Navickas said that the ministry is currently starting the drafting of a law on the construction of a new atomic power plant and intends to submit the bill to the parliament in March.

He added Lithuania would appreciate if the French company shared its experience in preparing such legislation.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

tw

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OSLO (AFX) – Yara International ASA has confirmed it is to take legal action against Acron, the Russian chemicals group, over a dispute regarding the two companies’ joint venture, Nordic Rus Holdings.
The Norwegian fertiliser-to-chemicals group said it is to take legal action in the Stockholm Arbitrary Court to resolve a lengthy dispute about its stake in Nordic Rus, which was set up in 1997 as a 49-51 pct joint venture between Yara and Acron.

Nordic Rus was established to enable Yara and Acron to pool their stakes in Apatit, a Russian chemicals firm.

However Yara now claims its Russian partner has illegitimately taken control of the joint venture, and is treating it ‘as a wholly-owned subsidiary’.

The Norwegian firm says Acron exercises its influence over Apatit ‘with no regard to Yara’s requests or interests’.
As a result, Yara says it wants the joint-venture dissolved and its 8.2 pct stake in Apatit returned.

alastair.reed@thomson.com

ar/cmr

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HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) – An agricultural official said a dead bird found in Hong Kong was infected with the fatal H5N1 strain of bird flu, the second bird in the territory to test positive for the virus this year.

The crested goshawk was discovered on January 9 and a spokesman for the agricultural department urged the public to remain vigilant about the dangers posed by avian flu.

Earlier this month, authorities confirmed that a wild bird found in a busy downtown shopping area of the southern Chinese territory was also carrying the virus.

The city has been on high alert, with authorities stepping up checks at the border with China, where flu-infected birds were smuggled in last year, sparking the first outbreak of H5N1 among local birds in years.

afp

TAIPEI (XFN-ASIA) – Six Taiwan airlines and six counterparts from mainland China are slated to provide a total of 96 cross-strait passenger charter flights during Feb 13-26 for the Lunar New Year holiday period, an official said.

‘These flights will be non-stop but need to fly over Hong Kong air space,’ said an official from Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

Each flight refers to one round trip.

Under the plan, Taiwan’s China Airlines (2610.TW), EVA Airways Corp (2618.TW), Far Eastern Transport Corp, Mandarin
Airlines Ltd, Transasia Airways Corp and UNI Airways Corp will operate a total of 48 flights during the Lunar New Year holidays.

Another 48 flights will be provided by six airlines from the mainland, namely Air China Ltd, Hainan Airlines Co Ltd, China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines Co, China Southern Airlines Co Ltd and Xiamen Airlines Co Ltd.

Destinations permitted for such passenger charter flights include Taoyuan and Kaohsiung in Taiwan, while mainland destinations include Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Xiamen, the official added.

Taipei and Beijing had in June last year agreed on more cross-strait charter passenger flights during major holidays, while also opening special cargo flights and charter flights for emergency healthcare and special humanitarian purposes.

The 12 Taiwan and mainland carriers are allowed to operate a combined 168 flights a year for passenger charter services during the Lunar New Year, Tomb Sweeping Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival periods.

At 11.42 am, China Airlines was up 0.20 twd at 15.95 while EVA Airways was down 0.10 at 14.00.

(1 usd = 32.80 twd)

adela.lin@afxasia.com

BERLIN (AFX) – The German justice ministry is preparing a draft law to reinforce anti-corruption legislation after scandals in businesses such as Volkswagen AG and Siemens AG, Der Spiegel said in a reported to be published tomorrow.

The draft law, which needs to be adopted by ministers before the end of the first quarter, would allow German authorities to pursue employees of foreign and international organisations and administrations under certain conditions, Der Spiegel said.

For example, European public sector employees could be pursued if they were involved in corrupt activity in Germany or if they had German nationality when the corruption took place, the weekly magazine reported.

The government also wants to increase public prosecutors’ powers to pursue corrupt behaviour, the report said, adding that the draft law would enable Germany to conform to several international treaties.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

afp/jfb/cml

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