Iberia seeks cut in agency commissions
Madrid: Spanish airline Iberia said it wants to negotiate a cut in commissions it pays travel agents for issuing air tickets. "Iberia is modifying its tariff structure and as a part of that it is in negotiations with travel agencies about the future commissions scheme," an Iberia spokeswoman said. Under current contracts, which expire at the end of the year, Iberia pays travel agents a commission of between 4.5 and seven per cent on each ticket, depending on whether it is a domestic, European or international flight.

Asked about press reports the Union of Travel Agents was threatening to sue Iberia for 800 million euros ($902 million) in compensation if the firm cuts commissions at the end of the year, she said: "It is subject to negotiations and we still have half a year before reaching an agreement." She added that Iberia's approach was similar to that of other large European airlines.
Back to News Review index page  

China may grow 8% post-SARS
Beijing: China's economy is expected to grow more than 8 per cent in the first half of 2003 despite the fall-out from SARS, reports say. "China's economic growth rate is expected to exceed eight per cent in the first half," Xinhua news agency said in a report. The Statistical Bureau is scheduled to release figures for the first-half economic growth and other indicators, like the consumer price index and fixed asset investment, on Thursday. "There will be no reversal in the momentum of rapid economic growth" despite the impact of SARS, Chen Dongqi, senior economist at the State Development and Reform Commission, was quoted as saying. China's fixed asset investment, a vital growth engine, was expected to rise more than 30 percent in the first half of this year from a year earlier.

China's economy is bouncing back strongly from the SARS outbreak, with factory output surging 16.9 per cent in June and exports rising 32.6 per cent. Meanwhile, China drew nearly $7 billion in FDI in June, the strongest monthly showing in a year, in the latest evidence that the economy got back on track shortly after a modest hit from SARS. The total marked a rise in FDI of just 2.5 per cent from a year earlier, the ministry of commerce said, a far cry from growth rates that have pushed 40 per cent in recent months. But analysts said the slowdown was due to a big spike a year earlier and not the outbreak of SARS
Back to News Review index page  

Yahoo to buy pay search engine for $1.63 billion
New York: Yahoo, the Internet media company that has a search service, said it will buy rival search company Overture Services in a deal worth $1.63 billion to help it compete with arch rival Google. Overture will receive 0.6108 shares of Yahoo stock and $4.75 in cash.
Back to News Review index page  

Gold Wo ex-officials charged with fraud
Hong Kong: Hong Kong's anti-graft agency said on Monday it had charged three former officials of household products manufacturer Gold Wo International Holdings Ltd and two others with conspiracy to defraud, agencies report. The five face four charges over the firm's listing and applications for HK$290 million (US$37 million) of bank credits, the Independent Commission Against Corruption said in a statement. In January the High Court ordered provisional liquidators be sent to Gold Wo after HSBC Holdings Plc's Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp Ltd submitted a winding-up petition in respect of a HK$13.42 million debt due to the bank.

The company's latest status is unclear. Fu Chu-kan, 46, Fu Yin-ling, 51, and Lo Chun-nam, 53, formerly chairman, vice chairman and a director of the firm respectively, will appear at Eastern Magistracy on Tuesday. They will be accompanied by the other two defendants --certified public accountant Li Wing-kei, 37, and Kwok Shuk-wah, 30, a director of a consultancy firm. The first charge accused Fu Chu-kan, Lo, Li and Kwok of conspiring with others to defraud the local stock exchange.
Back to News Review index page