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THE country's biggest listed electronics maker is to sell its loss-making computer business to an overseas investor. The Shenzhen-listed TCL Corp said yesterday it would dispose of its PC operations with the sale of an 82-percent stake in the unit. Shares of TCL stopped trading yesterday to await a further announcement. TCL's computer unit lost 67.8 million yuan (US$8.9 million) last year on sales of 2.14 billion yuan, the Huizhou-based company told the Shenzhen Stock Exchange earlier. The move follows Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's PC business and Acer's purchase of Gateway. TCL made a profit in the first half of the year, helped by cost cutting. Its net profit was 45.1 million yuan compared with a net loss of 746.4 million yuan a year earlier. After the sale of the PC unit, TCL will focus on the TV and telephone business. The company recently announced a deal to sell the BlackBerry phone in China next year.

BANK of China Ltd's Hong Kong unit said its purchase of a 4.9 percent stake in Bank of East Asia Ltd, the city's third-largest bank, doesn't presage a takeover. BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd, 65.8 percent owned by China's second-largest bank, yesterday announced it paid HK$3.95 billion ($507 million) for the holding, calling it a "financial investment." "At this point in time, we don't contemplate any further transaction which involves Bank of East Asia," BOC Hong Kong spokeswoman Clarina Man said in a phone interview yesterday. Yesterday's announcement surprised some analysts, who were expecting an overseas lender to target Bank of East Asia to get access to its growing branch network in China, Bloomberg News reported. La Caixa, Spain's largest savings bank, holds a 4.2 percent stake in the company. "Bank of East Asia has always been talked about as a possible target for a foreign bank to take over as a fast way to get into China and Hong Kong,"

CHINA Life Insurance Co yesterday surpassed AT&T Inc in market value, giving China five of the world's 10 largest companies, compared to three for the United States. Beijing-based China Life, the nation's largest insurer, gained 1.1 percent in Hong Kong and added 6.7 percent in Shanghai yesterday ahead of its third-quarter earnings announcement, valuing the company at 1.94 trillion yuan (US$259.1 billion). San Antonio-based AT&T, the biggest US phone company, is valued at US$252.9 billion, according to Bloomberg News. "China is one of the most exciting economies," said Jim Rogers, the chairman of New York-based Beeland Interests Inc. "The market is willing to pay a lot more for future growth." China Life, PetroChina Co, China Mobile Ltd, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp are now in the list of the world's 10 biggest companies by market value. Only two of those are in the top 50 by sales. The CSI 300 Index,

Skype never emerged as the cash cow eBay had hoped for when it paid a jaw-dropping $2.6 billion to acquire the Internet phone startup in 2005. Now eBay's announcement Monday that it will write off $1.4 billion in charges related to Skype has analysts and investors questioning whether the Internet phone business - known as voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) - has any commercial potential at all.

EBay ’s $1.43 billion writedown related to Skype was a clear acknowledgment that, at least in hindsight, it overpaid for the Internet phone service in 2005. But the announcement also had industry observers wondering: What now? According to Breakingviews, eBay’s dilemma now is whether to put the unit on the block. It doesn’t need to, says [...]

ALCATEL-LUCENT SA, the telecom-equipment maker whose shares have slumped 36 percent this year, plans to speed up the integration of the former Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Patricia Russo has been given until October 30 to present an emergency restructuring plan to her board, and to explain where the company should focus research and sales efforts, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing an unidentified person close to the Paris-based company's board. "The board's move is quite positive for shareholders," said Matthieu Bordeaux-Groult, a fund manager at Richelieu Finance, which oversees the equivalent of US$5 billion in assets. "The market is expecting tangible actions, no more profit warnings." Alcatel-Lucent, the world's biggest maker of phone equipment, on September 13 said sales growth may stall in 2007, third-quarter profit excluding items will be "around break-even" and margins will shrink, Bloomberg News reported. Alcatel bought Lucent in November for US$11.6 billion. "The company has been working on integration plans and has been looking at ways to accelerate those plans in light of the September 13 announcement," Alcatel-Lucent said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.