IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Buffett ups stake

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has raised its stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp to 18.2 percent, after spending close to $228 million this month on shares of the second-largest US railroad.

Berkshire bought about 2.95 million Burlington Northern shares from Jan 7-18, paying between $76.55 and $78.18 per share, according to US Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Web TV

Time Warner Inc pay TV channel HBO will launch a service today to let subscribers download movies and television shows over the Web, joining a crowded market for video on the Internet.

The service, HBO on Broadband, will make its debut with a much larger library than its cable-based on-demand service in a stab at satisfying increasingly mobile and choosy viewers.

Philips' earnings

Philips Electronics reported fourth-quarter core earnings above analysts' forecasts yesterday, and said order intake of its key medical division had picked up as it gained market share, sending its shares higher.

Amsterdam-based Philips said earnings before interest, tax and amortization rose 17 percent to 865 million euros, above an average forecast of 798 million euros in a Reuters poll of 13 analysts.

Wolseley slips

British building products retailer Wolseley reported a 25 percent fall in five-month trading profit yesterday and warned that a worsening US housing market is spreading to home repairs and improvement and across Europe, sending its shares down 12 percent.

Wolseley also said profit before tax and exceptional items fell almost a third in the five months to end-December, as its US business was hit by the continuing slowdown in housing starts, falling consumer confidence and a weakening US dollar.

Oil falls

Crude oil fell to a one-month low as stock markets tumbled in Asia and Europe on concern the United States will lead a global economic slowdown.

Crude oil for February delivery declined as much as $1.90, or 2.1 percent, to $88.67 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the lowest since Dec 12. It was at $89.92 at 11:46 am London time.

Probe intensified

European Union antitrust regulators stepped up their review of International Business Machines Corp's proposed $4.9 billion bid for Cognos Inc, the world's second-largest maker of business-analysis software.

The European Commission, the 27-nation EU's antitrust regulator in Brussels, said in a statement yesterday that the transaction's combined market share is above certain thresholds for a simplified review. The commission didn't change its Jan 29 deadline to rule on the deal.

Grace period

ACA Capital Holdings Inc, the bond insurer being run by regulators after subprime-mortgage losses, won a month's grace to unwind $60 billion of credit-default swap contracts that it can't pay.

ACA, under the control of the Maryland Insurance Administration, extended an agreement that waives collateral requirements, policy claims and termination rights until Feb 19, the New York-based company said.

Agencies

(China Daily 01/22/2008 page17)