Business this week 商业一周
Tim Geithner, America’s treasury secretary, declared that executive pay at companies that receive” exceptional assistance” from the government will be capped at $500,000 and that any additional compensation would have to be made in restricted stock that won’t vest until the public money is repaid. The policy, which does not apply to companies that have already received aid, comes as politicians step up their criticism of what they describe as executive excess at banks that have chalked up massive losses.
美国财政部长蒂莫西.盖特纳表示,接收美国政府特别津贴企业的高管的收入限制在50万美元一年,除非老百姓能拿回他们自己的现金,否则非流通股的额外补助将不予授权。只可惜,这项政策没有在已经接受帮助的企业中予以实施,它的提出意味着政客们对企业高管更进一步的批评,这些批评意见就像那些原本已经拥有巨大坏账的银行竟然还有行政超支一样
Getting the message? 受到讯息?
Wells Fargo scrapped plans to hold a conference in Las Vegas, “in light of the current environment”. The bank received $25 billion in federal aid last year. Goldman Sachs also said that “in light of the current environment” it was rescheduling a hedge-fund managers’ conference that had been due to take place in March at a 300-acre luxury resort in Florida.
美国富通银行,以“当前形势”为由,放弃了在拉斯维加斯举办会议的计划。去年,富通银行接受了来自联邦政府的250亿美元的援助,高盛也以此为由,宣布重新安排对冲基金经理人会议,这项会议原本计划在3月,位于福罗里达州的拥有300公顷的豪华度假胜地举行。
The Bank of England reduced interest rates by half a percentage point, to 1%. See article
英国银行下调利率50基点至1%。
Big oil companies reported mixed earnings. Despite a 33% fall in its net income in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, Exxon Mobil turned an annual profit of $45.2 billion in 2008, the biggest ever for an American company. Chevron’s quarterly profit of $4.9 billion was similar to a year ago. And BP said its replacement-cost profit was $25.6 billion for the year, though it made a net loss in the last quarter.
许多大石油公司报告了他们多样化收入。尽管与上年同期相比,第四季度的净利润下滑了33%,但埃克森美孚依然在2008年实现了452亿美元的年度利润,创美国公司历史之最。雪佛龙公司这一季度的收入为49亿美元,与一年相差无几。尽管英国石油公司在上一季度出现过净亏损,但在整年,其除去重置成本后的利润为256亿美元
More Japanese electronics companies announced swinging job cuts. Panasonic shed 15,000 employees, NEC slashed its workforce by 20,000 and Hitachi said 7,000 jobs would go. The companies all posted big losses for the fourth quarter, as consumers reined in their spending and the yen strengthened, hurting Japanese exports. See article
(与美国公司形成鲜明对比的是,)大量日本电子公司宣布更为激烈的裁员。松下公司裁员1万5千人,日本电器公司裁员2万人,日立公司称裁员7000人,这些公司全部通报了其在第四季度的重大亏损,其原因是消费者捂紧口袋,而且日元坚挺,打击了日本的出口品。
Dow Chemical’s troubles continued. America’s biggest chemical company made a quarterly net loss of $1.6 billion as demand for its products fell among manufacturers. It was dealt an additional blow late last year when Kuwait pulled out of a multibillion-dollar investment venture, which in turn caused Dow to delay its takeover of Rohm & Haas. That company is suing Dow to complete the deal.
道化学公司麻烦不断。美国最大的化学公司出现16亿季度净亏损额,因为各大制造厂商减少了对其产品的需求。去年晚些时候,科威特(主权财富基金)从这家合资公司中撤出了数十亿美元的投资,导致Dow推迟了对Rohm&Haas的收购。目前,这家公司已经起诉Dow,要求其完成该项收购 Roche launched a new bid for the 44% of shares it doesn’t already own in Genentech, and took it directly to the biotechnology company’s shareholders. A committee of independent directors at Genentech rejected a proposal from Roche last August.
罗氏药业提出一项新的竞标,出资收购了它未曾拥有基因泰克公司44%的股份,并且直接拿给生物技术公司的股东。这是基于去年8月份基因泰克公司的独立董事委员会拒绝了来自罗氏公司的提案
Motorola released dismal quarterly earnings. The company suspended its dividend and said its chief financial officer was leaving. Motorola’s share of the global mobile-phone market has fallen to 6.5%, from 23% just a few years ago. Shareholders approved a plan to buy out PCCW, Hong Kong’s main telecoms company. Richard Li, PCCW’s chairman, has offered to take the company private following a slump in its share price. Some investors say the price should be higher. PCCW had to ask regulators to suspend trading in its shares this week amid allegations that attempts had been made to rig the outcome of the vote.
摩托罗拉公司宣布了糟糕季度收入,该公司取消了年末红利并宣布首席财务官即将离任的消息。摩托罗拉公司的全球手机市场占有率从一年前的23%跌至6.5% 股东们提出一项计划来出售一家香港主要的电信公司,即电讯盈科。电讯盈科主席李泽楷提出,将该公司以暴跌的股价进行私有化。一些投资者认为价格可以更高一点。由于身陷在这些许多举措都是旨在操控投票结果指控中,电讯盈科不得不请求监管部门在这周暂停其股票交易
Rio calls in Beijing 力拓来访北京
Rio Tinton confirmed that it was talking to Chi Nalco about the possibility of the state-owned Chinese aluminum producer making an investment in the company. The Anglo-Australian mining giant has accumulated debt of some $40 billion. See article
力拓证实他将与中国国有铝业生产商,即中国铝业公司商谈中铝投资力拓的可能性。这个澳洲的英国矿业巨头,已经背负了400亿美元的债务
January was the worst month for car sales in the United States for decades. Almost 657,000 cars and light trucks were sold; more vehicles were bought in China than America for the first time. General Motors’ sales plunged by 49% compared with January 2008, Ford’s by 40% and Chrysler’s by 55%. Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, saw its American sales fall by 32%. Meanwhile, America’s car-parts suppliers asked the Treasury for $25.5 billion in state aid, which includes creating a fund that would reduce the time it takes carmakers to pay for parts.,
近20几年来,今年的一月份对美国的汽车销售业来说是最糟糕的一个月。将近65万7千辆轿车和轻型卡车已经出售。第一次,中国的汽车销售量大于美国的汽车销售量。通用汽车的销售量与2008年相比,暴跌了49%,福特下降40%,克莱斯勒下降55%。世界最大的汽车制造商,丰田公司在美销售量下降32%。同时,美国汽车零部件提供商要求财政部给予255亿美元的正式援助,这些援助包括创建一个基金,用来部分的减少汽车制造商付款的时间。
Keep your motor running 使摩托继续运转 Warren Buffet bought half of a $600m debt offering from Harley-Davidson. The motorcycle-maker is using the funds to shore up its loss making financing arm. The notes pay 15% annual interest to Mr. Buffet, more than twice the rate of a standard corporate bond. Mr. Buffet also agreed to invest SFr3 billion ($2.6 billion) in Swiss Re. The reinsure is boosting its capital after booking massive write-downs and making an annual net loss.
沃伦巴菲特出资3亿美元接下哈雷戴维森公司的债务。摩托车制造商用这笔资金以财务融资的形式弥补亏损。备注:这家公司要支付远远高于两倍于标准企业债券的利率,即15%给沃伦巴菲特。巴菲特也同意投资30亿瑞士法郎(约合26亿美元)给瑞士再保险公司,再保险人经过了大量的资产减记和净亏损后,也提升了他的资本
America’s GDP decreased at an annual rate of 3.8% in the fourth quarter of2008, according to the official first estimate. Had it not been for a sharp rise in the quarter of inventories, economic output would have fallen by just over 5%. 根据官方的第一次统计,2008年第四季度美国GDP下降到每年3.8%。如果没有在存货上多出四分之一的大幅上升,经济产出会下降超过5%
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