Business in Asia on Feb 5, 2008. A summary prepared by Asia Pulse (http://www.asiapulse.com), the real-time, Asia-based wire with exclusive news, market intelligence and business opportunities:
MITSUBISHI TO CLOSE AUSTRALIAN PLANT, 1000 JOBS CUT
ADELAIDE - Mitsubishi's Australian assembly operations in Adelaide will close by the end of March, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) state secretary John Camillo says. Mr Camillo said Mitsubishi Australia president Rob McEniry told workers at the Tonsley Park plant of the decision at a meeting today. About 1,000 workers will lose their jobs, with the company pledging to pay out all their redundancy and leave entitlements. The Japanese car maker's decision ends the decade-long saga over Mitsubishi's manufacturing future in Australia and comes after the closure of the company's engine plant in Adelaide in 2005.
SINGTEL POSTS FALL IN Q3 NET OP PROFIT, AFFIRMS GUIDANCE
SYDNEY - Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (ASX:SGT), the parent company of telco Optus, has affirmed its annual earnings guidance after reporting a fall in third quarter net profit. Net profit for the three months to December 31 fell 4.2 per cent to S$952 million (US$673 million). But underlying net profit, which excludes one of gains, rose 21.7 per cent to S$931 million. SingTel affirmed its annual earnings guidance of achieving a 6.4 per cent increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
AUSTRALIAN CENTRAL BANK HIKES RATES, WARNS MORE RISES MAY COME
SYDNEY - Australia's central bank has raised official interest rates, as expected, following its board meeting today and signalled there may be further increases to come. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) hiked the cash rate to seven per cent, from 6.75 per cent, in a bid to temper inflationary pressures in the economy. The rise was widely expected with 17 out of 19 economists surveyed by AAP last week forcastng a quarter of a percentage point lift. The cash rate is now at its highest level since November 1996.
S.KOREA'S NO.1 INTERNET PORTAL NHN SEES Q4 PROFIT JUMP 78%
SEOUL - NHN Corp. (KSE:035420), South Korea's largest Internet portal, said Tuesday its quarterly net profit jumped 78.4 per cent, spurred by a rise in search revenue and online ads. Analysts say NHN, dubbed the Google Inc. of South Korea, is likely to sustain its momentum throughout 2008, as Internet-savvy Koreans spend more time on its Web site to search or play online games, allowing the company to draw more advertisers. NHN reported a net profit of 85.7 billion won (US$90.8 million) for the fourth quarter ended December last year versus 48 billion won a year earlier.
BRIDGESTONE TO ACQUIRE SHELL'S THAI, MALAYSIAN AUTOSERV STORES
TOKYO - Japan's Bridgestone Corp. (TSE:5108) announced Monday that it will acquire from Royal Dutch/Shell Group the Shell Autoserv network of auto maintenance stores in Thailand and Malaysia. Bridgestone said it would take on the 64 Thai locations and the eight Malaysian stores by April, but did not disclose the price. These outlets sell tyres and lubricants. The company is bolstering its sales system in tandem with expanding tyre production capacity in Thailand and Indonesia.
NEWS CORP UPGRADES EARNINGS GUIDANCE AFTER RISE IN Q2 PROFIT
SYDNEY - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (ASX:NWS) has upgraded its annual earnings guidance after booking a 1.2 per cent rise in second quarter profit, following by strong growth in the group's cable network and television businesses. The international news and entertainment colossus also ruled itself out of making a tilt for internet business Yahoo! and played up the prospects for its Australian and United Kingdom newspaper operations. News said it was not seeing any weakness in the advertising market in the US, despite ongoing concerns that the economy could fall into recession.
CHINALCO'S RIO STAKE INDEPENDENT DECISION: CHINESE MINISTER
CANBERRA - China's foreign minister says Chinalco's joint stake with US company Alcoa in Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) was an independent decision made by the two companies. On Friday, state-owned Chinalco and US-based aluminium producer Alcoa bought a 12 per cent stake in Rio for STG7 billion (US$13.9 billion), in what is thought to be one of the biggest dawn raids in corporate history. "This is an independent decision by the two companies," China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told reporters in Canberra today. "They did it, I guess, for their companies' own good and I think you can deduce it would help the development of their business."
YAMAHA TO LIFT INDONESIAN CAPACITY 40 PCT VIA NEW MOTORBIKE PLANT
TOKYO - Japan's Yamaha Motor Co. (TSE:7272) plans to bring online a new motorcycle factory in Indonesia this year, seeking to raise capacity in that country by 40 per cent to 3 million to 3.2 million units a year in 2010, The Nikkei learned Monday. The investment is expected to total about 10 billion yen (US$93 million). The move comes on the heels of the firm expanding capacity by 400,000 units last year. The new plant, to be built on the site of joint venture PT Yamaha Motor Manufacturing West Java, will produce 100-150cc bikes with automatic transmissions.
CHINA'S SHOUGANG TAKES STAKE IN AUSTRALIA'S MT GIBSON
BEIJING - Shougang Group has acquired a 19.72 per cent stake in Australia's Mount Gibson Iron Ltd (ASX:MGX) through its subsidiary, the Hong Kong-listed Shougang Concord International Enterprises Co., Ltd. (SEHK:0697). Shougang Concord International Enterprises announced Monday that it acquired a 9.74 per cent stake in Mount Gibson at price of A$201 million (US$182 million) and it also obtained an option of buying additional 9.98 per cent shares at a price of A$2.60 per share.
WORLD BANK NAMES CHINESE ECONOMIST AS VICE PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON - World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick Monday announced the appointment of Justin Yifu Lin, a Chinese national, as the new chief economist and senior vice president for development economics at the World Bank. Lin, currently professor and founding director of the China Centre for Economic Research at the prestigious Peking University, was selected after a global search, according to a statement released by the bank. Expected to take up his position on May 31, Lin will succeed Francois Bourguignon, who retired from the Bank Group last year to become director of the Paris School of Economics. "As our first chief economist from a developing country, and an expert on economic development and particularly agriculture, Justin Lin brings a unique set of skills and experience to the World Bank Group," said Zoellick in the statement.
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