Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word firms. 15 news.

STATE energy, telecommunications and tobacco companies will be paying the highest portion of their profit as dividend to the central government from next year, reflecting their monopoly status. Twelve energy firms, including China National Petroleum Corp and State Grid Corp of China, five telecom operators led by China Mobile Communications Corp, and the China National Tobacco Corp are in the first category which has to pay 10 percent of their net profit, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said yesterday. China plans to start collecting dividends from the 150-plus state firms under the central government's direct control starting next year, with the money used to finance the nation's strategic planning and for social security purposes, the State Council, or China's Cabinet, has said. Another 99 large state-owned enterprises directly controlled by the central government, including metal producers and air carriers, which come into the second category,

SHANGHAI stocks tumbled yesterday, led by banks and property developers. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers yuan-denominated A shares and hard currency B shares, fell 2.62 percent to end at 4,876.76, the biggest drop in two weeks. It had reached an intraday high of 5,007.35. Turnover rose to 102.65 billion yuan (US$13.87 billion) from 82.82 billion yuan on Friday. Gainers outnumbered losers 450 to 362 while 88 stocks were unchanged. "A massive drop of big-caps, including lenders and property developers, has led the local stock market to a slump," said Chen Huiqin, an analyst with Huatai Securities Co. "However, the recent correction from a high of 6,100 to the current level, a 20 percent drop, would probably create some opportunities for both institutional and individual investors." Banking stocks dropped on concern a slowdown in the property market will drain demand for housing loans. China Merchants Bank Co, the nation's sixth-largest lender in

Chinese companies are increasingly using the country's influence and cash reserves to win lucrative supply contracts, often edging out local and western competitors

The campaign to stop rail firms pushing up fares in the run-up to Christmas and other busy times of the year stepped up a gear today

National Oilwell Varco agreed to purchase oil equipment company Grant Prideco in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $7.5 billion, the latest deal in the consolidating oil sector.

CBI, RBS play the grinch The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has been forced to scale back its economic expectations for 2008 amid growing concerns about the impact of the credit crisis on UK firms.…

Some big investors are taking McDonald's Corp. off their value menus. Deutsche Bank A.G. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. were among firms that, all told, sold more than 63.8 million shares of McDonald's stock during the third quarter. Earlier this month, activist investor William Ackman unloaded his ...

FTC chair Deborah Platt Majoras rejected a request that she recuse herself from reviewing the Google-DoubleClick merger. In a statement issued Friday, she maintained that she doesn't have a conflict of interest in reviewing the proposed $3.1 billion merger--although her husband is a partner at Jones Day, one of the law firms representing DoubleClick. "I have determined not to recuse myself from this matter because the relevant laws and rules...neither require nor support recusal," she said.

Strong demand from emerging markets, even as developed markets slow, will propel the PC sector to healthy growth in the next three years, boosting Asian firms Acer and Lenovo.

A local economics scholar is warning that Taiwan's IT industry is currently facing three big challenges, resulting from a lack of innovation in research and development, heavy reliance on foreign technologies and a drop in companies' added-value within the industry.

South Korea pledged Sunday to spend nearly US$22 billion buying energy and mineral reserves over the next decade, enlisting its public pension fund to help beat out other state firms in the quest for stable resource supplies.

U.S. stock portfolios might benefit from the addition of Indian pharmaceutical makers now that their shares have become inexpensive in the face of new competition and challenges to their business model.

The Bank of Japan's tankan quarterly survey showed confidence among firms fell, adding to worries on the economy.

India's major tech-services firms have had a tough year, but some analysts say now is a good time to buy their stocks, if investors can handle near-term volatility.

The outlook for small UK firms has worsened in recent months, a survey from Bank of Scotland suggests.