IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Offer in pipeline

Air One SpA, the Italian airline seeking to buy larger rival Alitalia SpA, said it's preparing a "binding offer" for the country's state-owned carrier.

The company and a "group of Italian investors" will have the offer ready "shortly", Air One said. The bid would challenge an offer by Air France-KLM Group SA, which is in exclusive talks with Alitalia.

Stake sold

DSV A/S, the Nordic region's biggest trucking company, sold a stake in Norwegian transport firm Tollpost Globe AS to Sweden's Posten AB, boosting 2008 earnings by 440 million kroner ($87.5 million).

DSV, which sold its 50 percent stake, has run Tollpost with Posten as a joint venture since 2001, the Broendby, Denmark-based company said yesterday.

Kookmin climbs

Kookmin Bank, South Korea's largest lender, said fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as provisions for risky loans declined from a year ago when the government raised lending safeguards.

Net income rose to 551.5 billion won ($585 million) in the three months ended Dec 31 from 214 billion won a year earlier, the Seoul-based company announced yesterday.

Defense prepared

Iberdrola SA, Spain's second-biggest power producer, hired Morgan Stanley to prepare a defense against a possible takeover, according to two people briefed on the plan.

Morgan Stanley advised Iberdrola, which has a market value of 51.7 billion euros, against the $13 billion bid by Endesa SA in 2000. The firm also helped the Bilbao-based utility repel Gas Natural SDG SA's 26 billion-euro attack in 2003.

Forecast cut

JFE Holdings Inc, the world's third- largest steelmaker, lowered its annual profit forecast by 19 percent on rising materials costs and a charge for losses at its incinerator business. Shares fell after the announcement.

Net income will probably decline to 260 billion yen ($2.4 billion) in the year ending March 31, compared with a previous forecast of 320 billion yen, the Tokyo-based company said yesterday.

Inflation climbs

Euro zone producer price inflation picked up to an annual 4.3 percent in December, confirming worries about price pressures from high food and energy costs, data showed yesterday.

The year-on-year rise in the producer price index (PPI) was in line with predictions by analysts polled by Reuters and followed an upward revised increase of 4.2 percent in November and a hike of 3.3 percent in October.

Firm fined

A Kazakh court ordered the local unit of ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, to pay 132.4 billion tenge ($1.1 billion) in back taxes and fines, upholding a claim made by government investigators.

A special inter-regional economic court on Feb 1 upheld the state tax committee's bill for the years 2002 through 2005, said Shokan Araunov, a judge in the case. ArcelorMittal spokesman Nikolai Kubrakov didn't answer his mobile or office phones when Bloomberg called seeking comment.

Wendy's advances

Wendy's International Inc, the US hamburger chain that's been seeking a buyer since April, said fourth-quarter profit more than quadrupled on lower restaurant costs.

Net income rose to $14.1 million, or 16 cents a share, from $3.03 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier, Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's said yesterday. Profit trailed analysts' estimates. Revenue fell less than 1 percent to $596 million.

Agencies

(China Daily 02/05/2008 page16)