KT layoffs: South Korea’s largest mobile operator KT lays off 6,000 employees
News on December 28, according to foreign media reports, South Korea’s largest mobile operator KT Monday said it would cut 5992 jobs, or about 16% of the overall number of employees, which would save 460 billion won a year for the company ( about 393 million U.S. dollars) in labor costs.
KT said the plan is aimed at empolyees who work in the company for more than 15 years and apply for early retirement. The company spokesman said the layoffs resulting from the compensation would be credited to the fourth quarter earnings, which would be expected to produce about 8,400 billion won one-time costs. Tong Yang Securities analyst Choi Nam Kon pointed out that the job cuts would improve next year’s profit of KT. KT this year, KT Freetel with the mobile phone business after the merger has said it plans to reduce the five-year period about 5,000 billion won, manpower-related costs.
Choi Nam Kon, said: “Investors should focus on next year’s profit of KT seeking to improve operational efficiency, recovery and determination.” He gave KT “buy” rating and raised its target price 10 percent to 5.3 million won, while 2010 annual profit is expected from the previous 1.8 trillion won raised to 2.1 trillion won.
KT, the latest results showed narrower, as of the end of September, the company a total of 37026 employees. KT union on December 9 require the company to develop an early retirement scheme to support the company still hopes to find after the “new opportunities” employees.
2008 GDP Growth Rate of China: China’s 2008 GDP growth is revised to 9.6%
News on December 25, 2009– China has revised its gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 2008 from 9% to 9.6%, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Friday. That raised GDP of 2008 to 31.4045 trillion yuan from the previous figure of 30.067 trillion yuan, NBS director Ma Jiantang told in a press conference. The new figure was amounted to about 4.59 trillion U.S. dollars, at the exchange rate on Dec. 31 of 2008.
The revised volume for the agriculture sector was 3.3702 trillion yuan, accounting for 10.7 percent of GDP, down from 3.4 trillion yuan. Moreover, the figure for the industrial sector was put at 14.9003 trillion yuan, accounting for 47.5 percent of GDP, larger than the earlier figure of 14.6183 trillion yuan. Whereas the service sector figure was 13.1340 trillion yuan, accounting for 41.8 percent of GDP. It was up from 12.0487 trillion yuan.
The GDP growth for 2009 would be calculated based on the revised GDP volume but would have little impact on the GDP expansion estimates, Peng Zhilong, head of department of national accounts of the NBS, said. The revision came at a time when China’s economy is on the track to hit 8 percent growth in 2009, fueled by the government’s 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package unveiled November 2008 to help the economy weather the affects of the global economic downturn.
Former Gome Chairman, Huang Guangyu (Wong Kwong Yu) case
Huang Guangyu case involving thousands of officials at all levels, which discover new facts about the crime
News on December 24, according to Second Branch of the Beijing Municipal People’s Procuratorate, Wong Kwong Yu suspected of criminal cases, which attracts much social concern. Recently, the Beijing branch of Beijing Municipal People’s Procuratorate found that Wong Kwong Yu, who also suspected of crimes, involoves other new realities, have been transferred to relevant departments to continue to review.
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