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Vol. 2 ::
No. 12 November, 2000 (Kartik-Mangsir) |
World Brief
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World Brief |
Japan’s biggest consumer electronics company Matsuhita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. has announced a 50.8 percent surge in interim net profit. The company has credited the profit rise to booming mobile telephone sales.
Matsuhita, better known by brand names such as Panasonic, revealed that its net earnings had hit 51.4 billion Yen mark (US$ 476m) in the six months to September. While the sales went up 4 percent to 3740 billion Yen, pre-tax profit rose 24.7 percent to reach 105.1 billion yen, the company said.
Other than mobile phone sales, Matsuhita has said that it has recorded steady sales growth in personal computers and cordless phones.
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. of Japan has made known that it has posted a profit in the six months upto September after spending almost all of the 1990s in the red.
The French-controlled Nissan said that it had recorded a net profit of 170.2 billion yen (US$ 1.58 billion) in contrast to a loss of 323.5 billion yen in the same half of the previous year.
Nissan, Japan’s second biggest automaker, more than quadrupled net profit forecasts for the year to March to 250 billion yen.
The company said in a statement that the better-than expected results for the half year was made possible through measures that saw huge cost reduction, especially in purchasing, and a thrust in world-wide sales of profitable vehicles. Though Nissan’s home market remained a blot with sales slumping 9.4 percent, sales overseas rose led by USA.
Nissan had last year announced massive restructuring plans which witnessed a mammoth 21,000 job cuts and pulling the shutters down on five plants in Japan. The ‘Nissan Revival Plan’ was conceived after France’s Renault SA took a controlling stake of 36.8 percent in the Japanese automaker.
Nissan is also to decide by the end of this year as to where in Europe it is to build its new Micra small cars.
Two Japanese companies, Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Fijistu Ltd, involved in different fields altogether – pharmacy and computers – have announced a tie-up. They plan to develop medical products using genetic data.
Daiichi and biotechnology unit of Fujitsu, Celesar Lexico Sciences (CLS), said they would work over the next five years to fight cancer, senility, circulatory problems and infectious diseases. The research will use a computer program jointly developed by Daiichi Pharmaceutical and Fujitsu which will predict the function of genes.
Daiichi said it would spend some US$ 83.3 million in the first two years of the alliance to set up a research team of 60 scientists.
CLS will work on predicting malfunctioning genes while Daiichi will research relations between the genes and medical conditions, it was revealed.
The sales of Daewoo Motors in India is reported to have jumped 40 percent year-on-year in October, 2000, much in contrast to the way the company is faring at home. The sales of Daewoo cars in October has reached 4564 units, of which 4405 units is accounted for by Matiz with Cielo and Nexia accounting for the rest. During the current fiscal year, Daewoo is recorded to have sold 33,693 cars posting an 88 percent rise in sales over the same period last year when 17,927 units were sold.
Other automobile companies have also been enjoying benefits. Though Hyundai Motor’s passenger car sales is reported to have recorded a 10.6 percent drop to 7363 units in October from 8242 in September, a statement from the company however claims that the company’s sales this October is an 18.6% increase from last October. The statement adds that in this current fiscal year so far, the sales of Hyundai cars has reached 75,843 units, representing a growth of 60.5 percent over the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Honda Siel Cars India has reported sales growth of 37 percent in mini-sized passenger cars, Honda Siel, to 621 units in October. Cumulative sales during the first seven months of the on-going fiscal year increased 10 percent to 5,772 units as opposed to has 5268 units last year, according to the company.
Hong Kong has been ranked the world’s freest economy in a survey of 161 economies compiled by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.
The annual study ranks the freedom of national economies on the basis of several factors, such as trade, tax, government intervention and banking policy.
Hong Kong, which has been ranked as the freest economy every year since the foundation released its first survey in 1994, was marked down for increased government spending but was offset by a plus for declining inflation.
| Hong Kong | 1 |
| Singapore | 2 |
| Ireland | 3 |
| New Zealand | 4 |
| Luxembourg | 5 |
| United States | 5 |
| Australia | 9 |
| Japan | 14 |
| Taiwan | 20 |
| South Korea | 29 |
| China | 114 |
| Vietnam | 144 |
| Myanmar | 145 |
| Turkimenisthan | 148 |
| Uzbekistan | 149 |
| Laos | 150 |
| North Korea | 155 |
Japan, awakening from a near decade-long recession, advanced to 14th place from 19th last year, while South Korea jumped to 29th place from 33rd place because of lowered inflation.
Meanwhile, Taiwan slipped to 20th place from 11 because of the government’s intervention to prop up the currency and stock market. China fell to 114th place from 100th partly due to increased restrictions on banking and finance.
But China’s trade score was expected to improve with its forthcoming entry to the World Trade Organization, said Feulner of the Heritage Foundation.
Daewoo Motor Co., which had been surviving on the mercy of government-controlled credit banks, has been declared bankrupt. The company’s debt is reported to have gone up 17.5 percent to US$ 16 billion as of June.
The company, third largest automaker in South Korea, is expected to seek court receivership which will install new management and freeze all debts.
Creditor banks had threatened the troubled carmaker, which has the capacity of making 2 million cars at home and abroad, of cutting lifeline loans unless the company’s labour union gave consent to job cuts to reduce costs.
But even as the union called a last-minute meeting of its members after talks with the management failed, it did not agree to the restructuring plan – which would mean 3500 job lay-offs from among the 17,000 in South Korea.
According to analysts, the court receivership will put the creditor banks into further disadvantage as General Motors of America may try to bring down the purchase price of Daewoo. GM has reportedly offered between US$ 4 billion and 5 billion for the Korean automaker in a tight bid some months back.
South Korea’s once-troubled car firms Kia Motors and Samsung Motors had been sold to Hyundai Motor and Renault SA of France respectively, after being put under court receivership.
It is expected that Daewoo, which has been on debt-workout program since mid 1999, will provide foreign car makers easy entry into South Korea’s car market and also open up the Chinese market which is one of the fastest growing car markets in Asia.
Sing Pao, one of the oldest newspapers in Hong Kong, has been sold to Optima Media Holdings Ltd., and entertainment business Star East Holdings Ltd.
Optima Holdings is a joint venture owned by Hong Kong-listed investment company China Internet Global Alliance Ltd. Conglomerate Hutchison Wharpoa, owned by local tycoon Li Ka Shing, has an indirect stake holding in the firm.
On the other hand, Star East is co-owned by several prominent movie stars including action master Jackie Chan.
The Chinese language Sing Pao was founded in 1939, and has been controlled by the family of founder Ho Man – fat who is now aged 86.
The older newspapers in Hong Kong are learned to be under pressure with price wars and the public's growing demand for sensational and colourful news. The new owners in a press statement have stated that Sing Pao will now provide more diversified content in entertainment news.
Chung Mong-Hum, one of the sons of Chung Ju-Yung, founder of Hyundai, is reported to be set to sell all holdings in group affiliates to save debt-stricken Hyundai Engineering and Contraction Co. Ltd. (HEC). Chung controls HEC through a 7.8 percent stake.
Chung and his father had been under pressure from creditor banks who had threatened to liquidate or put HEC under court receivership unless Chung came up with a drastic reform plan.
Group officials have said that the proceeds received from the sell-off of Chung’s holdings would be used to pay off debts and recapitalize South Korea’s biggest construction firm.
HEC had very narrowly avoided bankruptcy some weeks ago. It is learned to have debts amounting to some US$ 4.5 billion out of which US$ 1 billion is due before the end of the year 2000.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand hope to double tourist arrivals into the kingdom over the decade to 22.5 million.
According to official statistics, Thailand is in track to receive 9.12 million international visitors for the year 2000, well above the target of 8.8 million and up from 8.58 million in 1999.
According to the Authority, Thailand has now adopted a 10-year master plan to develop the industry. The Authority said that in the next five years it is targeting to attract 16.02 million tourists, generating revenue worth some US$ 10 billion. At the end of the master plan, the arrivals should stand at 22.46 million and revenue, reach US$ 15.95 billion, the Authority said.
Under the 10 year plan, Thailand also hopes to increase domestic tourism to 63 million trips a year in 2005 and 72 million trips a year by the end of 2010.
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