McDonald s raises prices in China
MCDONALD S Corp., the world s largest restaurant chain, increased prices for its burgers, drinks and snacks in China to offset costs after the country s inflation surged to a two-year high.
Product prices were raised by 0.5 yuan to 1 yuan (US$0.15) yesterday because of higher raw material costs, Sophia Luan, China spokeswoman for the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company, said in a phone interview yesterday. She declined to provide an average percentage increase.
GZ seeks foreign buyers for bank
GUANGZHOU was seeking to sell a 20 percent stake in Bank of Guangzhou to a foreign investor for as much as US$850 million, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Bank of Guangzhou, the city s seventh-largest lender, had allowed due diligence by potential buyers including Groupe BPCE, France s second-largest bank by branches, and Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada s third-largest lender, the person said. A 20 percent stake in Bank of Guangzhou could be valued at US$650 million to US$850 million, the person said. The Guangzhou Municipal Government, which owns 93 percent of the company together with other State-backed entities, planned to sell more than 50 percent of its holding to foreign and domestic investors.
Web game market to hit US$750m in 3 yrs
THE country s Web game market is set to more than double to 5 billion yuan by 2013 as Internet usage expands and major online game companies shift to create more Web games, according to a research firm Tuesday. The size of the Chinese Web game market was expected to balloon to 2.28 billion yuan this year, compared with 990 million yuan in 2009, iResearch said in a report.
Sina s 3rd-quarter profit rises 87%
SINA Corp. said its third-quarter profit climbed 87 percent as online advertising revenue surged.
Net income jumped to US$31.3 million from US$16.7 million a year earlier, Sina said yesterday. Sina added users for services such as microblogs and online videos, boosting its Web site s appeal to advertisers in the world s fastest-growing major economy. The Shanghai-based company last week agreed to a partnership with Microsoft Corp. s local Internet venture on services including instant messages, stepping up a challenge to industry leader Tencent Holdings Ltd.
