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Business Times Online - All The Headlines
The Business Times Online Edition - Singapore
- Air France long-haul traffic robust despite strike, slump
(PARIS) Air France-KLM Group, Europe's biggest airline, said that passenger traffic on long-haul routes increased last month even as the global economy slowed and a strike by pilots grounded planes for four days. - Virgin Blue can weather 5% staff cut
(PERTH) Virgin Blue Holdings, Australia's second-biggest airline, said that it has the capacity to cut at least 5 per cent of staff to combat a global credit crisis that's led to the failure of about 30 carriers this year. - Panel rules on seniority for Delta, Northwest pilots
(ATLANTA) An arbitration panel has ruled that the seniority lists of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines pilots should be integrated based on pilots' status and aircraft category. - AirAsia's stock takes a dive
(KUALA LUMPUR) AirAsia Bhd, South-east Asia's biggest discount airline, fell to its lowest in four months in Kuala Lumpur trading yesterday after a group led by CEO Tony Fernandes scrapped a buyout plan. - US court halts auction of airport slots
(NEW YORK) A US Court of Appeals has agreed to stay the auction of landing or takeoff slots that airlines are now awarded, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said on Monday. - Laos on lookout for site to build new int'l airport
(VIENTIANE) The Laos government is scouting for a suitable site to build a new airport, to replace the current Wattay International Airport, as the new one would give a good image of Laos to air travellers, vice-head of the Civil Aviation Department Vanpheng Chanthaphone said. - Hainan Air parent may seek aid from govt
(SHANGHAI) China's Hainan Airlines Co said yesterday its parent was considering seeking financial help from the government, playing down a local media report about an imminent cash injection. - Ex-Boeing scientist gets probation for taking secret files
(L0S ANGELES) A former Boeing Co scientist who pleaded guilty to taking secret documents home from work without authorisation was sentenced to three years of probation. - FedEx slashes fiscal 2009 profit outlook
(MEMPHIS, Tennessee) FedEx Corp cut its forecast for fiscal 2009 earnings and capital spending on Monday as the slumping economy cut into package deliveries. - HK faces marked slowdown ahead, says IMF
(HONG KONG) Hong Kong's economy is 'highly exposed' to the crisis in global financial markets and is headed for a marked slowdown, the International Monetary Fund said in a report released yesterday. - HK to cull chickens on bird flu outbreak
(HONG KONG) More than 80,000 chickens will be slaughtered in Hong Kong after bird flu was found at a poultry farm, the first farm outbreak here in nearly six years. 'We have discovered up to 60 dead chickens in that farm. After a series of tests, we have confirmed this morning that the chickens did die from the H5 virus,' Health Secretary York Chow told reporters yesterday. - S'pore Inc can weather storm
CORPORATE balance sheets in Singapore remain relatively strong despite the credit freeze but some sectors - such as real estate and commodities - appear more vulnerable than others, according to reports. - Water industry still 'liquid': Credit Suisse
WHILE the credit squeeze has hit the water industry, the sector is still 'liquid' and firms such as Hyflux and Epure International should stay afloat, said Credit Suisse in a report last week. - Mixed picture for technology firms
TECHNOLOGY firms are displaying varying levels of financial health - while Venture Corp stands out for its cash position, for instance, Chartered Semiconductor is receiving less than favourable reviews for its high gearing. - Fall in steel demand leaves Novo in the red
STEEL trader Novo Group Ltd has reported a loss of US$3.6 million for its second fiscal quarter of 2009, which ended on Oct 31, 2008. This is down from a net profit of US$2.8 million for Q2 2008. - KS Energy, Siemens strike liftboat deal
KS Energy (KSE) has got the wind in its sails again. The oil and gas service provider has struck a deal with Siemens Wind Power to replace a new, jack-up liftboat, which was earlier lost at sea, with another newbuild to support the latter's offshore wind power operations in the North Sea. - SGX upgrades derivatives trading platform
SINGAPORE Exchange Limited (SGX) said that it launched a major upgrade to its trading engine for the derivatives market, Quest-DT, on Monday. - Company briefs
JURONG Shipyard, a subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine, has secured a $200 million contract to convert the very large crude carrier (VLCC) tanker, the MV PSVM, to a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for MODEC to be delivered in Q1 2011. - UOB, China Unionpay launch credit card
UNITED Overseas Bank (UOB) and China Unionpay (CUP) have launched what's touted as the first Singapore bank-issued credit card with the widest acceptance in China - the UOB CUP platinum card. - The better option to stock options
FOR richer and for poorer; in sickness and in health. When share options gained currency in the 1990s, they were meant to cement a marriage-like bond between executives and their companies. Because options - the right to buy a share at a determined price - are valuable to the extent that executives benefit when share prices rise, thus aligning them with shareholders at large. Turning salaried managers into shareholders was seen as a neat solution to the agency problem. - Russia, China firms likeliest to use bribes
(BERLIN) Companies from emerging economic powers Russia and China are most likely to use bribes when doing business abroad, according to a new report from Transparency International (TI). - US economy needs further stimulus: OECD
(PARIS) The US economy will probably get worse before it gets better and will need further injections of public money to help it pull out of trouble, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said yesterday. - US body calls for great