2005.1.14
Part I
Interview: Why the takeover trend has been growing
Part 2
Market briefing --- Cathy (fast)
Australia market --- David (slow)
Tokyo market --- Ron (slow)
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Interview: Why the takeover trend has been growing
>> posco reports fourth quarter profit today. economists forecast it to report a 10th straight quarter of net% -pincome growth.% pnet income probably doubled to $961 million in the three months ending december 31 from a year earlier. that according to the median estimate of eight analysts polled by bloomberg. full-year profit probably rose at 85% to a record $3.67 trillion. for reaction, i’m joined by the head of asian credit research at calyon investment bank. good to have you with us. analysts expect posco to report 10 straight quarters of profit. why is the company doing so% pwell?
>> well, it’s a race between the steel price increases. steel price vs. shot through the roof for the last five or seven quarters. they have been upwards of $600, $700 imported prices in america and europe. coal prices are going up and metal prices are going up, too. still, both these taken together posco’s operating margins have risen. they are now hovering at around 25% for about six quarters now. so i think the basic thing is demand for steel, steel prices an how it is able to curtail prices.
>> do you expect costs to rise faster than steel price this is year and what effect will that have on the pace of profit growth for posco? there are reports that coal prices are likely to increase more than 100%. i know prices are likely to increase about 60%. both have negotiations going on right now. still we think the demand for steel will continue to be strong in the new year and the steel prices will stay at these high levels for some time to come. we have high forecasts for economic growth in the united states. we are looking at 3.6%. we think china will slow down but only slightly. so we are still looking at% growth for 2005. india, although the monsoons may play a role in the overall growth rate, production seems to be going very well. all of these factors are to be considered. demand for steel is likely to be high and i think steel prices can catch up with the price increases, maintaining posco’s profit margins at current levels.
>> so given your optimism for steel demand this year, will posco be able to pass on the costs as easily as it did last year?
>> i think in the first two quarters posco will be able to pass on. toward the end of the year we may have some negative influences coming into play. the u.s. growth rate may dip a little more in the year 2006. china will have slowed down to a cruising pace rather than a blistering pace. we may have chinese catching up with the rate of demand. i don’t think it will happen as early as this year. it’s a story maybe a year and a half, two years down the line. so from the beginning of next year we may have some moderating influences. until then i think it should be fine.
>> posco will hold their analyst conference call later this evening. are there any specific areas or issues that you would want the company to address?
>> i would think three questions are important. first of all, the operating margin outlook has been discussed. the rate between steel prices and the raw material prices. and secondly, i would like to know a little more about posco’s medium term strategy. they’re expanding in china. they’re talking about brazil, india. where are they going, how much will they invest and when will the benefits start flowing? thirdly, there used to be talks of diversification at least some time ago. they wanted to get into the private sector. talks have also slowed down. i would like to know once steel goes down a little bit, will they talk of diversification and if so, what are the areas they’d like to look at? these are the questions i’d like to ask them.
>> dilip, before you go, the unemployment rate for december in south korea is at 3.6% from 3.5% the previous month. what do you make of the data and the effect it may have on interest rates in south korea?
>> we think the domestic demand will still remain down for at least two quarters now. maybe from the third quarter it may rising. it is too soon. employment data reflects that. on top of that, we think exposure may moderate this year compared to last year. they’ll not collapse. they’ll continue to grow at a reasonable pace but not as strong as they used to last year. so given this kind of thing, we think interest rates will only go down. we don’t think the central bank would cut interest rates as soon as this week 25 basis points but we do expect a 25 basis point cut in the next meeting next month. that is because the central bank would like to watch where the currency is going. ‘ currency is appreciating, they don’t have to be in a hurry to cut the interest rates.
>> good to speak with you. thank you for that, dilip. head of asian credit research at calyon investment bank on the phone in hong kong. coming up, a special interview with u.s. commerce secretary donald evans. he will talk about trade, currency and china’s future, just ahead.
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Australia market --- David (slow)
Tokyo market --- Ron (slow)
>> chinese leaders failed to produce results on points of friction in our trading relationship. their failure only empowers those critics within the u.s. political system.
>> we’ll hear from outgoing u.s. commerce secretary don evans as the u.s. trade deficit balloons to a record. the widening trade gap pushes the dollar lower in new york. the dollar posts its biggest drop against the euro in five weeks. it loses all the gain it is had against the yen earlier this year. the tsunami-ravaged countries get a break. the paris club agrees to delay debt payments until the i.m.f. and world bank come up with complete debt relief plans. apple computer shares surge more than 12% in extended trading. sales of the ipod helped apple more than quadruple profit in the last quarter. breaking news from south korea. the nation’s jobless rate is at 3.6% in december. that is up from november’s 3.5%. economists we surveyed expect that the jobless rate would hold near a three-year high of 3.5%. rising unemployment is hurting consumer confidence in asia’s number four economy. south korea’s central bank will probably keep borrowing costs at a record low to revive spending% -pand investment. futures on the a.s.x. are up .3%. let’s go straight to david in sydney for more. david, what are investors looking at in australia before the open?
>> looks like we might have a rising market , cathy. people will probably look at so. mining companies. b.h.p., biggest oil and gas producer in australia after crude rose to a six-week high. rio tinto to watch after copper increased. a buy recommendation on both the stocks. earnings may be good and they may have good outlooks when they report their earnings. watch for those two shares. b.h.p. ended up .4% higher in u.s. trading than it did in australia yesterday. also one of the big stories of the day is going to be 10 network. there was an unsourced report in the australian newspaper which said that john fairfax holdings, a publishing company that publishes “the sydney morning herald” may be in talks to buy a $1 billion stake from a canadian company which own as 57% stake in network 10. john fairfax holdings declined to comment on the story at moment. the background to this is, of course, the government in -- speculation is that the government will take steps to loosen some of the media ownership laws. since that election, 10 network holdings’ stock has reufb by 15%. watch for 10. the other one to look for is promina group. earnings forecast for fiscal 2004 was raised by about 12% by csfb this morning. csfb is going to do well because of the decrease in bond yields and strong equity markets that we have seen. now remember that csfb increased its forecast also for a.m.p., biggest insurance company in australia, earlier this week because of the same reason, the increase we saw in fourth quarter equity markets in australia. back to you, cathy.
>> thanks for that, david. third quarter profit rose 52% on higher profit. what are they saying about third quarter earnings?
>> good morning, cathy. let’s look and see what it forecasts for the fourth quarter. infosys’ chief executive officer told cnbc they predict 50% fourth quarter growth. going forward we’ll have to take a look at the growth rate. now infosys is saying third quarter profit rose 52% on orders from new customers and infosys technologies is india’s second largest software exporter. the company says that 38 customers in this quarter. they did that at prices higher by 5%. cathy?
>> what is the company’s strategy in trying to mitigate the local currency gains?
>> cathy, infosys is betting more orders on businesses like consultants and network management would compensate for that depreciation against the u.s. dollar. the indian currency gained at least 5.4% in the third quarter cutting the value of overseas earnings. infosys expects earnings per share to rise as much as 50% in the current quarter. now the manager of $40 million in mumbai says that the company improved its operating margins despite rupee pressure. he says there’s been a marginal increase in the pricing of the new customers. here’s how the stock did in the previous day’s session. infosys fell 3.4%. benchmark index itself fell 1.9% which is the lowest since november 25. cathy?
>> before you go, a lot of the success of eupbd kwrao software companies are based on the pay structure for employees. what can you tell us about that?
>> that’s right, cathy. that’s one advantage. india’s software exporters are winning customers in part because they can pay workers the equivalent of about 12,000 u.s. dollars a year. that’s 1/6 the average programmer salary in the u.s. even so, wages are rising as local rivals and overseas technology companies in india take on growing numbers of skilled engineers. the head of worldwide sales at infosys says demand for offshore outsourcing continued to be strong. he says clients have respond favorably to a combination of the consulting services and offshore delivery. infosys hired about 2,280 employees in the third quarter which is less than half the 55,010 they had in the second quarter. back to you.
>> you bet. thank force that. airbus beat boeing again. the european plane maker says 2004 aircraft deliveries rose 5%. they’re counting on the super jumbo a-380 to help it maintain its number one position above boeing. the chief executive. hailed the a-380. this will greatly contribute to airbus financial reserve notice years to come.
>> stay tuned.
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[2 楼] | Posted:2005-01-18 17:24|
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2005.1.13
Part I
Interview: Apple chief executive
Part 2
Market briefing --- Cathy (fast)
Australia market --- David (slow)
Tokyo market --- Ron (slow)
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Interview: Apple chief executive
>> it’s 9:12 a.m. in sydney. expect a dry and sunny wednesday in that city. hot in the west. strong northeast winds. high temperatures, it’s 29 degrees celsius. as we mentioned earlier, news just coming in that microsoft chief financial officer john conners will retire. microsoft says conners will become a partner of a seattle-area venture capital firm. the company will consider internal and external candidates to fill the position. apple computer unveils its $500 mac into be computer, its cheapest ever. the company is also selling a new low-cost ipod music player. the shuffle will sell for under $100. the company says that makes it smaller, lighter and shock resistant. apple chief executive steve jobs unveiled it in san francisco.
>> this is the new ipod shuffle. take off the cap, put it right on, you’re set to go. [applause]
>> tomorrow, apple may report the ipod sales drove quarterly earnings to a four-year high. apple shares tripled last year. the european union and the u.s. agree to seek a settlement of government aid to airbus and boeing. the move is to prevent a 10-year-old dispute from becoming the biggest case in the history of world trade organization. the position heads off the immediate threat of a court case after the u.s. filed a complaint that the w.t.o. back in october. the u.s. argues european government loans to airbus were an am of legal subsidies under global trade rules. the e.u. countered, saying boeing has benefited from unfair support of $23 million from a military contract. the prospect of a lawsuit is threatening to undermine the way the two biggest plane makers finance the development of a new aircraft. analysts surveyed by bloomberg expect net income to rise 46%. infosys reports third quarter results this afternoon. indian investor production probably rose in november after the cheapest loans in 31 years spurred demand for homes and cars. economists surveyed by bloomberg expect factory output in asia’s number four economy gained 8.2%. it rose a record 10.1% in october, that was the same month india’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate the lowest since 1973. european investors are watching chipmakers’ reactions to intel’s earnings as well as retailer’s results. bloomberg’s mark barton has a preview of wednesday’s agenda.
>> now wednesday, european chipmakers will be the center of attention, at least at the start of trading after the release of intel’s earnings. now metro may report that quarterly sales rose 6.3%, germany’s biggest retailer opened stores abroad, out pacing royal ahold and replacing the dutch company as the world’s third biggest retailer. germany’s economy shrank in 2003, proming metro to open cash and carry wholesale stores in countries, including china and media mart consumer electronic outlet elsewhere in europe. britain’s biggest consumer electronics retailer, dixons may say that u.k. sales grew 2.5% in the eight weeks through december. that would be less than half the pace of the previous 28 weeks. dixons, whose u.k. businesses include curry’s p.c. world and the link is having to cut prices to keep up competition with retailers such as pesco, britain’s number one food retailer and wal-mart stores. staying with retailer, burr berry group reports fourth quarter sales. the luxury retailer known for its trimmed raincoat may report an increase as it added products in open stores and cities in moscow and tokyo as well. turning to aerospace. and airbus will probably raise its 2005 production by 15% when it gives its annual outlook. the world’s biggest commercial aircraft maker would widen its 2-year-old lead over boeing. the company would also probably say 2004 sales rose marg untilly, even as deliveries rose 5% because of the weak dollar. the e.u. and the u.s. agreed to seek a settlement in regardses to airbus s.a.s. and boeing. in london, i’m mark barton.
>> the man who co-founded the quantum hedge fund with george soros is both bearish and bullish in china at the same time. jim rogers who now turns a $1.3 billion commodity fund says he plans to jump into china when others get scared away.
>> you’re probably going to see real estate investors in china go bankrupt, you’re probably going to see financial types in china go bankrupt in 2005. that is going to scare everybody. they’re going to cut back on their import. it is not in the world, it’s the buying opportunity. you see turmoil in china, you pick up the phone and buy all of china you can because it is a buying opportunity.
>> the yen rises the most against the dollar in almost a month. here’s a look at where the japanese currency is trading right now. a currency strategist at national australia bank talks about when the bank will step in to strengthen the rising yen.
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Australia market --- David (slow)
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>> welcome to “live” from hongcofpblg i’m catherine i can’t think. we have plenty in store for you on this edition including intel’s fourth quarter results. andy bryant will join us live from the company’s headquarters in silicon valley in less than two hours. plus, a fund manager who owns the stock will join us half an hour. he’ll tell us whether he’s planning to buy more or plans to sell. also coming up t dollar resumes its tumbling. we’ll tell you why and get a live reaction from a currency strategist in 20 minutes and donald evans heads to china to press u.s. trade concerns ahead of international affairs and the u.n. manufacturers group will tell us what he is looking for. intel reports that fourth quarter sales rose to a record as holiday shoppers bought laptops. net income fell as company trimmed production. net income fell to $2.12 billion or 33 cents a share. sales rose 9.8% to $9.6 billion, topping intel’s analyst expectations. the market was expecting sales of the world’s biggest chipmaker to rise 8% to $9.4 billion, according to analysts surveyed by thomson financial. analysts say intel’s figures are driven by laptop sales.
>> overall, the trend is towards laptops long-term. that’s where their real business is because of the migration of desk tops to lap tops around the world. asia is already there, europe is guessing there, the u.s. is getting there as well and that’s where the strength is coming from.
>> intel makes sentry know chips used in laptops. craig baret, the c.e.o., calls sentry know a wonderful success story. the chips have helped intel turn around a year when new product delays and record inventory could have hurt sales and profit. intel was the second worst performing stock on the dow jones industrial average last year, down 27%. we’ll be going live to intel’s headquarters in santa clara to talk to andy bryant, the company’s chief financial officer, that’s at 7:55 a.m. hong kong, 8:55 a.m. in tokyo and 6:55 p.m. new york time. and elsewhere in the semiconductor industry, we’ll be getting fourth quarter figures from the second biggest chipmaker in the world, samsung electronics on friday. we have breaking news for use on the bloomberg. microsoft says its chief financial officer john conners will retire. i’ll give you more details as soon as they’re available. but first, u.s. stocks fell before those intel figures were released, disappointing fourth quarter profits from big-name companies like advanced micro devices and alcoa caused investors to sell u.s. stocks. a bad start to fourth quarter earnings season caused the dow and s&p 500 to fall .6%. the nasdaq closed lower by .8%. a.m.d. suffered its biggest one-day drop since october 2002. the company says fourth quarter operating profits fell from the previous period because of its loss in the memory chip business. u.b.s. and piper jaffray and company have downgraded a.m.d. the fall in stocks fueled demand for bonds. the fed is expected to continue raising rates this year. according to economists surveyed by bloomberg, the fed funds target rate is expected to reach 3 1/2% by year-end. it currently stands at 2.25%. the dollar post its biggest loss against the yen in four weeks. comments from the european central bank’s chief economist triggered that decline. the dollar’s drop against the euro has already gone too far and the key to cutting u.s. record trade deficits lie in asia and especially in china. it send the dollar to a six-day low against the yen, almost wiping out all of its gains against the japanese currency so far this year. and the dollar posted a second consecutive loss against the euro for the first time this year. oil prices rose to their highest this year, once again cold weather is to blame. oil topped $46 a barrel in new york for the first time since mid december. it’s gained more than 10% over the past month. oil jumped in new york tuesday after a weather service said temperatures in the northeastern united states would fall below normal beginning thursday. that region consumes about 80% of the nation’s home heating oil. oil has also been rising this year, after opec made good its pledge to cut production in an effort to boost prices. australian stocks rise in new york trading with the bank of new york australia a.d.r. index gaining .6%. let’s go to david dweed for more on the australian market . good to have you with us, david. what are australian investors looking at this morning?
>> well, you’re right. the a.d.r. index did ride. we have the futures on the a.s.x. 200 indicating down about .4%. that might be just some catch up to yesterday’s trading and also it might be reflecting the decline in u.s. stocks that we saw overnight. that said, copper prices are up 2%. that could help some of our mining companies and it has come out with a report, they’re predicting that thermal coal, used in power generation, may rise 27% this year after gaining 41% last year. that could help some of the miners such as rio tinto. also we have january consumer confidences coming up. remember that in december, that fell from a 10-year high and a drop in confidences, if there was one, could support the contingent that the central bank may keep interest rates on hold longer than some people have been expecting and just remember, of course, tomorrow about the jobs report coming up. catherine?
>> and in terms of corporate news, what are investors looking at this morning?
>> well, we’ve got harvey norman’s first half sales coming up and just before―as i just came on now, i’m hearing that boardman, the third biggest iron ore producer in australia, has a takeover, 11.5% above the closing price of the company last week. there could be more action here because, of course, some of the chinese companies are―might also join the bidding because they might want to secure their iron ore supplies. cathy?
>> thanks for that, david. now china turns in a record monthly trade surplus as exports surge. overseas shipments jumped 23% in december, rising faster than 30% for the 30th consecutive month. that pushed exports to a record $63 billion last month. imports jump as well, but not as fast to close the gap, resulting in a $11 billion trade surplus for the month. china’s trade surplus with the u.s. top add record $131 billion last year, more than doubling the size of japan’s trade advantage over the u.s. the u.s. has been pressing china to strengthen its currency in an effort to close the trade gap. last month’s tsunami left hundreds of thousands of indonesians homeless. ron madison has a look at how that country is responding. good morning, ron.
>> good morning, cathy. indonesia now working to set up refugee camps for more than 600,000 people left homeless by last month’s tsunami. the united nations says indonesia is building 24 camps in banda aceh, the worst-hit area of the country. a spokeswoman says the aid agency is flying a 100-bed fuel hospital in the region. health officials say they are worried that water-borne especially dimics such as cholera and malaria will increase the death toll. the last four britains held without charge in guantanamo bay in cuba are going to return home. u.k. foreign secretary jack straw says they will face questioning upon arrival.
>> the four men will be returned in the next few weeks. once they are back in the united kingdom, the police will consider whether to arrest them for questioning in connection with possible terrorist activity. any subsequent action will be a matter for the police and the crime prosecution service.
>> the u.s. held the four men for almost three years at the military detention center. the government set up the camp to detain suspected terrorists captured in afghanistan. the secretary of homeland security says president george w. bush’s inauguration will be held under unprecedented security. tom ridge says security will be the highest ever for a presidential swearing in ceremony. bush does retake the oath of office next thursday. it is the first inauguration since the september 11 attacks. more than 6,000 law enforcement officers and 2500 soldiers are going to be deployed for the event. cathy, that is the latest look at world news. back to you.
>> thank you for that, ron. after the break, u.s. stocks extend the january decline after disappointing earnings from advanced micro and alcoa. our roars from the new york stock exchange will wrap up the day’s trading. you’re watching “live.”
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我喜欢千万法,我用压码和右脑给千万别学英语一个杠杆,撬起零基础到达自由王国;压码只有一个指标:通过滞后提高速度,速度就是质量,给它注入一个加速器,就会产生一个个奇迹.
[3 楼] | Posted:2005-01-18 17:25|