Business in Asia Today -- May 10, 2004

SYDNEY, Australia, May 10, 2004 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A summary prepared by Asia Pulse (http://www.asiapulse.com), the real-time, Asia-based wire with exclusive news, market intelligence and business opportunities: 

JAPANESE LISTED FIRMS' NET PROFITS JUMP 68PCT 

TOKYO - Fuelled by the stock market rally, export growth and robust demand for digital home appliances, net profits of listed companies rose sharply to a record Y3.26 trillion ($US29.02 billion) for the year ended March 31, up 68% from fiscal 2002, according to figures compiled Friday by Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. After securing profits through restructuring efforts in fiscal 2002, companies have shifted towards generating income through higher sales to set a new high for the first time in three years. 

NTT DOCOMO POSTS 4PCT RISE IN YEAR OPERATING PROFIT 

TOKYO - While NTT DoCoMo Inc. (TSE:9437) has announced that consolidated earnings results for the fiscal year ended March 31 included record operating profit of about Y1.10 trillion ($US9.79 billion), a 4% increase, the mobile telecom company expects operating profit to drop in the current fiscal year. The firm amassed around 5.05 trillion yen in revenue, up 5%, and added 2.06 million subscribers during the year, bringing its total to 45.92 million. Also, write-offs from overseas investment losses decreased and net profit more than tripled to 650 billion yen. 

KEYCORP SIGNS $US69MLN CONTRACT TO MANAGE WESTPAC TERMINALS 

SYDNEY - Electronic solutions provider Keycorp Ltd (ASX:KYC) has signed a five-year $A100 million ($US69.98 million) agreement with Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) to manage the bank's EFTPOS terminals. The agreement includes the management, upgrading and support of Westpac's 70,000 EFTPOS terminals. Westpac product and payments manager Sally Herman said the outsourcing of its point of sale terminals would allow the bank to focus on providing banking and customer service. Keycorp chief executive Bruce Thompson said his company intended on becoming a major player in the EFTPOS management sector. 

JAPAN'S IHI WINS US$44.8MLN IN THAI ORDERS FOR POWER FACILITIES 

TOKYO - Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. (TSE:7013) has received orders worth about 5 billion yen (US$44.8 million) from Thailand for the purchase and installation of power generation facilities, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun has learned. The deal involves delivering 45,000kw gas turbines and related facilities to two industrial parks on the outskirts of Bangkok and installing them, with an aim to bring them onstream within the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2005. The gas turbines, originally for airplanes, were built by General Electric Co. of the U.S., feature small size and light weight. The major Japanese heavy electric machinery manufacturer logged gas turbine sales of 15.9 billion yen in fiscal 2003. This year, with the new orders from Thailand, the figure is estimated to jump to 20 billion yen. 

CHINESE ECONOMY TO GROW BY OVER 9% IN H1: REPORT 

GUANGZHOU - A recent government report has forecast an increase of over 9 per cent conomic growth in China in the first half of 2004, over the same period last year. According to the report on the country's foreign trade released by the Ministry of Commerce, the nation's economic growth rate was 9.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year, and the overall growth rate for the first half year would reach over 9 per cent. The report predicts that China's economic growth rate in the second half of 2004 will slightly be lower as compared with the first half year, but will remain its relatively fast growth rate. 

INDONESIA'S PLN TO BUILD US$300 MLN LNG TERMINAL 

MAKASSAR, S Sulawesi - State electricity company PLN is planning to build a US$300 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in West Java. "We are drafting an environmental impact analysis on the project. Shortly after a feasibility study on the project has been completed, we will start the building of the project," the company's president director, Eddie Widiono, said here over the weekend. The project was important for PLN to reduce the risk of facing a shortage of LNG or coal supplies from the company's main suppliers, he said. 

VODAFONE SELECTS NOKIA AS 3G PARTNER FOR AUSTRALIA, NZ 

SYDNEY - Vodafone today announced it had selected Nokia as its third generation network infrastructure partner in Australia and New Zealand. The decision has been widely touted since Nokia advertised for employees in New Zealand in March for a project manager, rollout manager and project engineer to work on "the 'new wave' network in New Zealand." Vodafone has said it expects to have 3G up and running in Australia and New Zealand by mid-2005. The British telecoms giant announced the long-awaited launch of its 3G services in Europe last week. Initially, it will only be available in Portugal and Germany and through just one Samsung handset, but Vodafone has said that other countries and handsets will follow. 

CANADA'S FORREC TO DESIGN US$224MLN INDIAN THEME PARK 

NEW DELHI - Indian firm International Recreation Parks (IRPPL) said it has roped in Canadian amusement park designing major Forrec to set up such a park in Noida at an estimated cost of Rs 10 billion (US$224 million). "The first phase of the park 'World Wonders' will be over by the middle of next year," IRPPL managing director Sanjiv Tyagi told reporters here. The project, comprising three theme parks for children, teenagers and families, two shopping malls and a 100-room three-star hotel, will be completed by 2008. IRPPL is a 50:50 joint venture between International Amusement Ltd and Gurgaon-based real estate developer Unitech Ltd. 

REEBOK INDIA EYES US$56 MLN TURNOVER IN 2004 

NEW DELHI - Reebok India said it has set a Rs 2.5 billion (US$56 million) sales turnover target for the current calender year, up by 50 per cent over last year, and plans to open another 20 exclusive showrooms across the country. "Our target is to touch the Rs 2.5 billion mark in turnover during the year which will be a growth of 50 per cent over the last year's figures," managing director of Reebok India Subhinder Singh Prem told reporters here. 

CHINA REPORTS BIG RISE IN DIAMOND TRADING 

SHANGHAI - Business turnover in diamond trading reported a 39 per cent rise year-on-year to US$80.8 million during the first quarter of this year at the Shanghai Diamond Trading Center, the bourse for diamond trading in the Chinese mainland. A continuing rise in diamond wholesale prices on international markets shored up trading in Shanghai, with volumes registered in March hitting a record high. In March, the trading of diamonds totaled US$40.7 million, up 91 per cent year-on-year, with diamond imports rising 48 per cent to US$12.2 million, and raw diamond trade soaring 270 per cent to US$3.71 million. 

Asia Pulse Pte Ltd. Each day Asia Pulse creates up to 300 items of news, business opportunities, expert commentary and industry profiles. Asia Pulse is a unique joint venture involving the resources of Asia's major news and information groups: 

(AAP) - AAP Information Services Pty Ltd (Australia)
(ANTARA) - LKBN ANTARA (Indonesia)
(CNA) - Central News Agency (Taiwan)
(IRNA)- Islamic Republic News Agency (Iran)
(Nikkei) - Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc (Japan)
(ONA) - Oman News Agency (Oman)
(PNA) - Philippines News Agency (Philippines)
(PPI) - Pakistan Press International (Pakistan)
(PTI) - The Press Trust of India Ltd (India)
(Yonhap) - Yonhap News Agency (Korea)
(VNA) - Vietnam News Agency (Vietnam)
(XIC) - Xinhua Information Centre (China)


SOURCE Asia Pulse 


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