Business News

Societe Generale chairman to quit

Societe Generale chairman to quit Paris  - Daniel Bouton, chairman of the French bank Societe Generale, was to quit following criticism over risky investments and massive losses, the Le Figaro newspaper said Wednesday.

Bouton said he handed in his resignation "to protect the bank," the paper reported. "I have become the target of incessant attacks that finally damage the company that I am very attached to," he said.

The bank's director general, Frederic Oudea, was to take over Bouton's position on May 6. Bouton stressed he would not receive any severance pay.

Allianz, American Express sell shares in Chinese bank

Allianz, American Express sell shares in Chinese bank Beijing  - Germany's Allianz Group and US-based American Express have sold shares valued at up to 2 billion dollars in China's biggest commercial bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the companies said on Tuesday.

Allianz said it had sold 3.216 billion shares, or half of its stake in ICBC, to "a select group of investors through a private sale."

Japan's Kirin bids for Australian brewer Lion Nathan

Japan's Kirin bids for Australian brewer Lion NathanSydney  - Shares in Lion Nathan Ltd leapt 40 per cent Monday after Australia's second-largest brewer agreed to a 6.5-billion-Australian-dollar (4.6-billion-US-dollar) takeover offer from Japanese beer maker Kirin Holdings Co Ltd.

Lion Nathan's board has agreed to sell Kirin the 54 per cent of shares it doesn't already own in the brewer that counts the beer brands Tooheys, James Boag, James Squire, Heineken, Hahn and XXXX in its stable.

The deal needs the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board and non-Kirin shareholders.

China fifth largest holder of gold in the world

China fifth largest holder of gold in the worldNew Delhi, Apr 25 : China earned 82.5 billion dollars from nearly two trillion dollars in foreign exchange reserves last year, and is now the fifth largest holder of gold in the world.

Hu Xiaolian, head o9f the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), said on Friday that the 82.5 billion dollars return was an increase of 8 percent on the year before, and dismissed foreign media reports that China had lost "tens of billions of dollars" on the value of its reserves during the economic crisis.

Bioplastics giant shortlists Thailand for first Asian plant

Bioplastics giant shortlists Thailand for first Asian plant Bangkok  - US-based Natureworks LLC, the world's largest producer of bioplastics, has shortlisted four countries - Thailand, China, Malaysia and Singapore - for a 100-million-dollar plant in Asia, news reports said Saturday.

Marc Verbruggen, president of the Minneapolis-based company, was in Bangkok recently to assess Thailand's potential as a base for its Asia plant which is expected to start operations in 2014.

Apple fires 1,600 from retail stores

Apple fires 1,600 from retail stores San Francisco  - Apple has fired some 1,600 employees from its chain of retail stores due to slackening consumer demand, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The job cuts were referenced in a securities filing by Apple Thursday in which the company said it had 14,000 full-time equivalent employees in its retail division as of March 28, down from the 15,600 as of the end of December.

The move came as Apple's recent earnings report showed a drop in sales for its Mac computer line, which is the biggest earner at the stores.

Pages