IN BRIEF (Page 16)
Service sector slows
Growth in US service industries slowed for a second month in August as financial companies cut jobs and trimmed spending plans, economists said yesterday.
The Institute for Supply Management's index of non- manufacturing businesses including banks, builders and retailers fell to 54.5, the lowest since March, from 55.8 the prior month, based on the median forecast of 76 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
Auto shares slide
Daihatsu Motor Co and Mazda Motor Corp led a drop in Japanese auto-related shares as the yen rose for a second day against the euro, eroding the value of their overseas earnings.
Daihatsu dropped 3.6 percent to 1,057 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at 12:31 pm. Mazda fell 2 percent to 577 yen. A gauge that tracks the performance of 63 auto-related companies on the bourse's first section dropped 0.2 percent.
Retailer down
J. Crew Group Inc, the retailer whose shares have doubled since it sold stock to the public last June, fell as much as 11 percent in extended trading after it posted second-quarter sales below analysts' estimates.
The clothing retailer boosted its forecast for earnings in the year ending in January to $1.42 to $1.46 a share from an earlier estimate of at most $1.41, Chief Financial Officer James Scully said.
Airport scheme dumped
Dubai Aerospace Enterprises abandoned plans to buy control of Auckland International Airport Ltd, clearing the way for a Canadian asset manager to acquire a stake in New Zealand's largest airfield.
Dubai terminated a NZ$2.6 billion ($1.8 billion) agreement to buy at least 51 percent of the hub after two city councils with a combined 23 percent holding objected to the sale. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board this week said it may seek a minority stake, skirting the councils' concerns.
Wheat futures grow
Wheat jumped to a record in Asian trading after the state of South Australia said output of the grain may be 24 percent less than earlier forecast, increasing competition for shrinking global supplies.
Export sales of wheat from the United States, the largest shipper of the commodity, have almost doubled in the year that started June 1. Egypt, the biggest importer of wheat after Brazil, as well as Iraq, India and South Korea bought the grain this week as they secured supplies on concern prices may extend gains.
Insurers' profit
Baloise Holding AG, a Swiss insurer, said first-half profit rose to a record on investment gains and higher earnings at its life division in Switzerland.
Net income climbed 14 percent to 468.4 million Swiss francs ($389 million), or 8.9 francs a share, from 412.6 million francs, or 7.6 francs, a year earlier, Basel, Switzerland-based Baloise said yesterday. Premiums gained 1.8 percent to 4.4 billion francs.
Rain mars forecast
Punch Taverns Plc, the largest UK pub landlord by outlets, said annual profit will miss its forecasts after the wettest summer on record and flooding in parts of the United Kingdom weighed on sales.
Pre-tax profits will be between 2 percent and 3 percent lower than the company's own forecasts, Burton Upon Trent, England-based Punch said yesterday.
Bond sale
AstraZeneca Plc, the United Kingdom's second largest drugmaker, is selling $6.9 billion in bonds to fund the purchase of US biotechnology company MedImmune Inc.
The proceeds will be used to repay a "significant portion" of debt from its $15.2 billion acquisition of MedImmune, the London-based company said yesterday.
Bloomberg News
(China Daily 09/07/2007 page16)
