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February 2, 2000 atimes.com
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Business in Asia Today



General Sekiyu posts $139.7m profit
TOKYO - General Sekiyu KK (TSE: 5012) announced Monday that it recorded a pretax profit of 15 billion yen ($139.7 million) for the fiscal year ended December 1999, topping its previous projection of 6 billion yen. The Exxon Mobil group company suffered a pretax loss of 4.8 billion yen in fiscal 1998, which covered only nine months because it changed its fiscal year to begin on January 1 instead of April 1.

Mitsui Fudosan wins office telecom projects
TOKYO - The Mitsui Fudosan Co have reached an agreement with 10 communications companies on the installation of their lines, the major real estate developer said Monday. The deal will offer tenants of its approximately 300 office buildings freedom to choose between telecom services. Tenants of office buildings, who until now had no choice but to use circuits offered by the NTT East Corp and NTT West Corp, will be able to shop around for the best rates.

Japan's public securities market to grow 30%
TOKYO - Japan's public securitization market would continue its strong recovery during 2000, growing 30 percent over 1999's $23.2 billion to reach $30 billion, said Moody's Investors Service in its annual outlook for the market. Transactions backed by new asset classes such as commercial real estate, shopping loans and perhaps residential mortgages will continue to fuel market growth and change the market's profile, as the traditional auto loan and equipment lease classes mature, said the rating agency.

Japanese Travel Bureau to set up Beijing JV
BEIJING - The Japan Travel Bureau Inc (JTB) will in March set up a joint venture in Beijing with a local travel agency, company sources said Monday. The first Sino-Japanese joint venture ever in the tourism industry will be capitalized at 5 million yuan ($607,030), with JTB's Chinese subsidiary putting up 49 percent and a subsidiary of China International Trust & Investment Corp supplying 51 percent. The company will begin operations in April and hopes to handle 25,000 travelers in the first business year.

Softbank unit, Vector team up on online software sales
TOKYO - Softbank Corp's (TSE: 9984) wholly-owned subsidiary Softbank Commerce Corp and Vector Inc, which markets programs online, announced on Monday an alliance in the field of software sales via the Internet. Softbank Commerce will invest 1.02 billion (US$9.74 million) yen to take a roughly 46 percent stake in Vector via a private placement of shares.

DreamNet to make webpages readable on i-mode cellphones
TOKYO - Japanese Internet firm DreamNet announced Monday it will in mid-February start a service to rewrite Internet webpages into text that can be read on cellular phones hooked up with the i-mode Internet service provided by NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc (TSE: 9437), or NTT DoCoMo. The i@DreamNet service will be provided free of charge to 250,000 of i-mode customers. It will convert the programming language used to make homepages and page layouts and make it readable on i-mode handsets. Users of i-mode terminals can specify a webpage at the push of buttons and a server computer will automatically convert it for transmission to their phones, company officials said.

Renault exec to visit Korea for Samsung Motor talks
SEOUL - A high-level Renault representative will visit Seoul for talks on the purchase of Samsung Motor in the middle of this month and his trip will likely trigger full-fledged negotiations as Renault's on-site inspection on Samsung will be completed around February 20. "Renault's high-level manager, second to only Chairman Louis Schweitzer, will visit Korea in the middle or late this month," a Samsung official said Tuesday.

Deutsche Bank pulls out of bid to buy KorAm stake
SEOUL - Deutsche Bank has opted not to acquire a stake in KorAm Bank, The Korea Times reported Tuesday. A bank official was quoted as saying in a telephone interview, "Deutsche is no longer considering participation in an investment syndicate that recently expressed interest in acquiring a minority stake in KorAm Bank of Korea."

China oil co CNSPC's profits up 47%
BEIJING - The China National Star Petroleum Corporation (CNSPC) reported that its 1999 after-tax profits had hit 476 million yuan (about $57.3 million), up 47.8 percent from the 1998 figure. The company's turnover grew by 18 percent to 6.2 billion yuan. CNSPC President Zhu Jiazhen said the company's newly-added oil and gas reserves reached 164 million tons during the year, or 134.18 percent more than the state target. The company's just-added proven reserves reached 93.21 million tons.

Tower Ltd applies for Chinese life insurance license
WELLINGTON - Insurance company Tower Ltd has applied for a life insurance license in China, managing director James Boonzaier says. He met Feng Xiaozeng, vice-chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, in January to formally present the group's credentials and to lodge the application to establish a representative office in Beijing. Tower has been looking at China for expansion for some time and believes China is the Asian market with greatest potential.

Malaysia's Sime Darby completes power plant stake purchase
KUALA LUMPUR - Sime Darby Bhd group chief executive Nik Mohamed Yaacob says the conglomerate has completed the acquisition of a 20-percent stake in Port Dickson Power Bhd (PDP) from Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd for RM136 million ($35.79 million). Sime Darby's stake in PDP has now increased to 40 percent and enabling the former to consolidate the power plant's financial results into the group's accounts.

Ford Vietnam to start assembling Laser cars
HANOI - Eight months after Ford Vietnam (Ford VN) was scheduled to begin production of its Ford Laser line of automobiles, the company has finally been permitted to start assembling 200 of the cars under a temporary license. The delay was a result of complaints over alleged Ford copyright violations placed by the Vietnam Motor Corp (VMC), a joint venture between the Hoa Binh Car Co, Philippines-based Imex Pan Pacific and Japan's Columbian Motor Corp.

Bank Bali only to be sold thro open tender: Ibra
JAKARTA - Bank Bali, which is one of the banks under control of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (Ibra), could only be sold through an open tender not earlier than April after the completion of a rights issue, an Ibra official said. Gustiono Kustianto, head of the Investment Asset Management of Ibra said Ibra is still auditing the bank to determine the amount of funds needed for its recapitalization.

Indonesian Astra's president agrees to share sales
JAKARTA - Rini Suwandi, the president of PT Astra Internasional said she agreed with the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency's (Ibra) plan to sell off shares of the country's largest automotive company. Rini, who has opposed the state agency's plan to sell 40 percent of Astra shares to two US investment companies, said she was pleased with the offers from Philippine companies John Gowongkei and JG Summit Holding Inc, which have reportedly come up with higher offers.

US AcuBid.com acquires Indonesia's Jaring data
JAKARTA - AcuBid.com Inc, a California-based Internet company says it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to acquire 90 percent of Jaring Data Interaltif, a Jakarta based multimedia company. JDI and its related affiliates have extensive licenses in satellite, wireless broadband, and other areas that relate to Internet services and content.

Adelaide Bank's share placement nets US$21.57m
SYDNEY - Australia's Adelaide Bank Ltd announced that a private share placement had brought in A$34 million (US$21.57 million) to be put towards its acquisition of Leveraged Equities Ltd. Adelaide Bank Group managing director Barry Fitzpatrick said the private placement of 7.5 million shares at $4.55 each, representing around 10 percent of the bank's shares on issue, had been quickly taken up by institutional investors.

Australia's Colonial may sell British unit
SYDNEY - Financial services group Colonial Ltd said it is mulling over the possible sale of its British insurance, pensions and lending business to a major UK company. Colonial public affairs general manager Matthew Percival confirmed UK-listed insurance and estate agent group Countrywide Assured Group plc had approached Colonial about the business. Colonial said selling the business, which analysts have valued at A$760 million (US$482.07 million), would be consistent with a sector wide consolidation in the financial services industry.

Australia's Challenger to buy Citibank business
SYDNEY - Financial services group Challenger International Ltd will purchase the assets of Citibank's share finance business. Challenger managing director Bill Ireland said the terms of the deal were confidential, but that the business "was not generating a lot of profit for Citibank". "We bought it because we were trying to get into that business . . . it gives us critical mass," he said.

ANZ buys 25% stake in Australian ISP Free Net
MELBOURNE - Australia New Zealand Banking Group Ltd moved to consolidate its position on the Internet market, acquiring a 25 percent stake with board representation in free Internet service provider Free Net Corporation as part of a new strategic alliance. In return, the bank will promote Free Net to selected customers, with both parties seeing the alliance as a way of growing their online customer bases.

Australian retailers missing the boat in Asia
BRISBANE - PricewaterhouseCoopers has issued a survey which shows that Australian retailers are missing out on opportunities to expand into Asia. Retail Meter Asia, a study prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Australian Center for Retail Studies at Monash University, forecasts that Asia's retail trading performance will strengthen in the next six months as the economic environment improves. The study also reveals that 75 percent of retailers in the region expect competition to intensify.

New Australian optic fiber cable line being laid
BRISBANE - Nearly 1,700 kilometers of fiber optic cable will be laid alongside the Brisbane to Cairns railway line as Australia's Cable & Wireless Optus extends its broadband communications network. Queensland premier Peter Beattie dug the first sod on the A$80 million (US$50.74 million) underground cable network, due for completion next April. "Not only will it increase telecommunications capacity, it will also stimulate competition which should result in lower prices," Beattie said.

Sanford Securities firms online position
SYDNEY - Sanford Securities Ltd, an Australian Internet stockbroker, said it had strengthened its position in the online trading market, with 5.2 million website hits per day during January. The company said it had achieved rapid growth since it implemented a new trading system last September and was now ranked the number two website in Australia, according to www.top100.com.au. Sanford Securities chief executive offer Steven Goh said the company had increased the total number of trades and contract notes by more than 46 percent since October and said website traffic had increased by 1 million hits per month.

Australia's Toll seeks tie-ups with e-commerce firms
MELBOURNE - Transport group Toll Holdings Ltd is seeking strategic alliances with e-commerce companies after boosting its e-commerce platform with the acquisition of Removals Australia. Toll has finalized a A$10.4 million (US$6.6 million) acquisition and assumed control of the virtual logistics provider. "In firming the future plans and opportunities which exist for the business, we believe the growth potential together with the e-commerce platform of Removals Australia, makes this an outstanding acquisition for us," Toll managing director Paul Little said.

HP India signs cooperation deal with Trade2Gain
NEW DELHI - The Indian arm of US Infotech firm Hewlett Packard has announced a strategic partnership with Internet company Trade2Gain intended to further development of business to business e-commerce. Under the alliance, the two companies will integrate each other's e-commerce infrastructure and technology, and undertake joint marketing initiatives.

Telstra appoints Citibank for offshore services
MELBOURNE - Telecommunications giant Telstra Corp Ltd (ASX: TLS) says it has appointed Citibank NA to supply its offshore banking services. Telstra corporate treasurer Cliff Davis said the company had been impressed by the quality of the closely contested tender, with submissions by all tenderers addressing the criteria comprehensively. "However, Citibank NA was chosen as it had the best combination of price, functionality and security control," Davis said.

Westpac Banking seeks strategic IT partner
Westpac Banking Corporation has announced plans to evaluate potential strategic IT partners to manage its core banking technology operations and telecommunications systems. As part of a competitive bid process, Westpac has invited three global providers of banking technology services: Computer Sciences Corporation, Electronic Data Systems Services and IBM Global Services together with a number of telecommunication and managed network service providers, to respond to a Request for Proposal.

Australia's Adelaide Brighton sells stake in SPA
MELBOURNE - Australia's largest cement and lime group Adelaide Brighton Ltd (AdBri) has sold its 50 percent stake in Stabilised Pavements of Australia Pty Ltd (SPA). AdBri chief financial officer Chris Foll said the move continued the group's restructuring initiatives, adding that it was possible that other non-core assets may be still be sold. Foll would not disclose the price paid for the business, but said AdBri had taken a A$3.5 million (US$2.22 million) abnormal loss for the transaction.

Ernst & Young to restructure India Cements
CHENNAI - South India's largest cement maker India Cements has retained global consultants Ernst & Young to suggest ways of streamlining organizational set up, systems and procedures, a top company official said on Monday. The company has targeted a 20 percent increase in output per individual per month and is taking steps to rationalize on manpower, with another voluntary retirement scheme was in the offing.

India's MTNL invites bids for international auditors
NEW DELHI - State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd has invited fresh bids for appointing international auditors for preparing its financial accounts in line with the US accounting practices, a prerequisite for listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

State Bank of India to start Internet banking
CALCUTTA - India's largest commercial bank, State Bank of India, will start Internet banking and e-commerce within the next few months and has drawn up an ambitious IT upgradation program to meet the requirements. He said the bank has invested Rs4 billion ($91.78 million) to develop and upgrade its IT and the plan is expected to be ready within the next six months.

Indian IDBI net profits drop 53% in Q3
Mumbai - Industrial Development Bank of India's (IDBI) net profit has plunged 53.47 percent to Rs1.41 billion ($32.34 million) for the quarter ended December 1999, on income from operations of Rs19.33 billion, up by 3.54 percent over the same period last year. The decreased profit was also due to additonal tax provision for earlier years, which was Rs700 million, totally charged during this quarter, IDBI said in a statement.

Zurich India mutual fund launches open-ended gilts scheme
MUMBAI - The Zurich India Mutual Fund has launched an open-ended gilts scheme in order to fill the gap in its repertoire of mutual fund schemes. The Zurich India Sovereign Gilt Fund will invest in securities issued by the federal government and strong and healthy state governments apart from investing in money market securities, according to S V Prasad, president of Zurich Asset Management Company India Private Ltd.

Ford India to increase Ikon production by 30%
CHENNAI - Passenger car manufacturer Ford India will be increasing production of its India-specific car Ikon by about 30 percent in the next couple of months and plans to manufacture 2,250 cars a month from April, a top company official said here on Tuesday. Buoyed by the performance of its India-specific vehicle, the company was planning to cut down delivery time to its customers, Ford India vice president John Fink said.

(Asia Pulse)

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