IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Cellphone purchase

Japanese electronics maker Kyocera Corp said it would buy Sanyo Electric Co Ltd's loss-making cellphone business for 40-50 billion yen ($375-$468 million), creating the world's sixth-largest cellphone maker.

Kyocera hopes the deal, due to be completed on April 1, will boost its struggling US operations as Sanyo has Sprint Nextel Corp as a major customer in that market, while Sanyo aims to focus on its core products such as rechargeable batteries.

Big drop

Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd, India's biggest sugar maker, had its biggest two-day drop in more than 16 years amid concern higher sugar cane price may lower earnings.

The stock declined as much as 56.9 rupees, or 20.7 percent, to 218.2 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange, extending a 20.5 percent drop on Jan 18. That's the biggest two-day slump since July 5, 1991, according to Bloomberg Data.

Moderate year ahead

Australian manufacturers expect a moderate year ahead, with the global credit crunch and rising interest rates seen crimping sales growth, a private survey showed yesterday.

The Australian Industry Group said that after inflationary increases in the cost of goods were factored in, manufacturers expected sales volumes to rise by just 2.7 percent in 2008, just above the medium term average.

More lenders recruited

BHP Billiton Ltd has brought in more banks to help it find the $70 billion it needs to fund its planned takeover of Rio Tinto Ltd, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported.

Citing no sources, the paper said BHP has tapped Barclays, UBS, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, BNP Paribas and Santander to work alongside original banker Citigroup on the funding.

Vote demanded

Swiss shareholder advocacy group Ethos wants shareholders to be given the opportunity to vote for a new UBS chairman, Ethos head Dominique Biedermann was quoted as saying in an interview published on Sunday.

"At the annual general meeting of UBS, which takes place next April, it will have to be decided who will be the future chairman of the board as the tenure of (UBS Chairman) Marcel Ospel runs out," Biedermann told Swiss newspaper Sonntag.

Satyam meets estimates

Satyam Computer Services Ltd, India's fourth-largest software services exporter, posted a 29 percent rise in quarterly profit yesterday, meeting estimates, as it won large outsourcing deals.

The company, which specializes in business software and offers back-office services, said under Indian accounting standards its revenue in the year to March would grow between 29 and 29.2 percent - higher than 26.3-26.7 percent it had forecast in October.

New unit

Japanese electronics firm Fujitsu Ltd said yesterday it would put its struggling semiconductor operations into a new unit, in a move that could smooth the way for partnerships with other chip makers.

Fujitsu's business building system chips, used in products ranging from digital cameras to supercomputers, has suffered from falling prices and the high cost of keeping up with the latest technology.

Sears to restructure

Sears Holdings Corp, the owner of the Sears and Kmart retail chains and Kenmore appliances, will reorganize into separate business units after a year of sales declines and dwindling profit.

Sears will designate a leader to each business and executive advisers to oversee performance, Sears spokesman Chris Brathwaite said in a Jan 19 e-mail. He didn't give details on what each division would do.

Agencies

(China Daily 01/22/2008 page16)