Foxconn Takes Financial Nose-Dive

Foxconn International - the scandal-hit electronics company that hides behind big brands like Apple - has been kicked out of Hong Kong's Hang Seng index.

The Hang Seng - a bit like the FT index in London - lists the area's most successful and profitable companies.

Foxconn, which manufactures Apple products in China, has been in financial nose-dive:

The Financial Times reports: The demotion caps a stunning reversal of fortunes for Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, which at its peak in 2006 had a market capitalisation of over HK$194bn ($25bn), when its shares were changing hands at HK$27 a pop. On Tuesday, the stock closed at HK$3.90 a share.

While Apple has grown into the world richest high-tech company, the fortunes of Taiwan-based Foxconn have plummeted. Initially, it became successful because it could use cheap labour in countries like China to assemble electronics goods for the likes of Apple, Nokia and Sony.

But Foxconn plants in China have been forced to increase wages after a spate of suicides and an investigation is continuing into an explosion at its Chengdu plant which left three workers dead and 15 injured.

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