ECONOMICS REPORT - Good Times, Bad Times: Microsoft and Yuko

ECONOMICS REPORT - Good Times, Bad Times: Microsoft and Yukos
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, July 30, 2004

This is Bob Doughty¹ with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Investors² take a risk when they buy shares of ownership in a company. Shareholders⁴ could lose their investment if the company does not have enough money. But what happens if a company has more money than it needs? Both situations have current examples. One involves the Russian oil company Yukos. The other involves Microsoft.

The American company makes the operating systems used on more than ninety percent of personal computers. It has fifty-six thousand million dollars saved in the bank. The company has been under pressure to return some of that money to its investors.

So last week Microsoft announced a plan to make a one-time payment to its shareholders of three dollars per share. Microsoft will pay out thirty-two thousand million dollars. This will be the largest such payout by any company.

The largest shareholder³ in Microsoft is its chairman, Bill Gates. He will get three thousand million dollars. He has promised to give that to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support its health and education programs. He is already the richest man in the world.

Microsoft also plans to increase it regular dividend⁵ payments to shareholders. And it says it will buy back thirty thousand million dollars of its stock over the next four years. The stock price has not changed much in the last few years. A reduction in shares on the market should increase the value for investors.

But there was more bad news this week for investors in Russia's biggest oil company. Share prices fell after reports of a possible production halt linked to efforts by court officers to collect a huge debt. Oil prices rose. Yukos produces two percent of the world's oil.

The Russian government says the company owes as much as ten thousand-million dollars in taxes. The government has threatened to sell the most productive part of Yukos.

Yukos officials are also in trouble. The biggest shareholder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is in jail. Supporters say charges of financial crimes are part of a government campaign against him. Mister Khodorkovsky is Russia's richest man. He could face a possible sentence of ten years in prison.

Last Friday, a group of investors based in Britain offered to pay the debts of Yukos. The group is seeking control of the company. Yukos shares are traded in Britain, Germany, Russia and the United States.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

4 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

5 dividend   

n.红利，股息；回报，效益

参考例句：

• The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
• The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。