IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Nomination postponed

Japan postponed the nomination of a new central bank governor for at least the second time, indicating that the government can't reach agreement with the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

The government yesterday postponed announcing its nominee until next week, Nikkei and Asahi newspapers reported, citing unidentified government officials.

Minicar cooperation

Nissan Motor Co, Japan's third-largest carmaker, and Mitsubishi Motors Corp agreed to expand cooperation in minicars.

Mitsubishi Motors will build Pajero Minis for Nissan to be sold under the Nissan brand, later this year, Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motors said in a statement yesterday.

Purchase mulled

National Australia Bank Ltd, the country's biggest by assets, may consider buying a bank that serves farmers in the US Northwest, Chief Executive Officer John Stewart said.

Stewart, who last year announced the $798 million acquisition of Omaha-based Great Western Bancorporation Inc, was speaking at an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce gathering in Sydney yesterday.

Vietnamese fund

CapitaLand Ltd, Southeast Asia's biggest developer by sales, said it will form a $300 million fund to invest in Vietnam property and plans an alliance with Nam Thang Long Investment Joint-Stock Co to expand in the nation.

CapitaLand plans to take a 30 percent stake in the fund, its first in the Southeast Asian nation, and has signed a preliminary agreement with Citi Private Bank for the fund, it said in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange.

Stakes sold

Eddy Groves, Chief Executive Officer of ABC Learning Centres Ltd, led four directors forced to sell some or all of their stakes as a slumping share price prompted margin lenders to demand the sales.

Groves sold 8 million shares in the world's biggest publicly traded owner of childcare centers, about 40 percent of his stake, for A$1.85 a share yesterday, the Brisbane-based company said in a statement yesterday.

Keeping control

Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Southeast Asia's second-largest phone company, said it will keep control of its wireless business in any stake sale, dimming the appeal for potential suitors including Orascom Telecom Holding SAE.

"We must be able to actually control its operations," Telekom Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Abdul Wahid Omar said in an interview at the company's Kuala Lumpur headquarters after reporting record full-year profit.

William Hill falls

William Hill Plc, the UK operator of more than 2,200 betting shops, said profit fell 5.6 percent last year on costs to scrap an in-house computer system for its Internet betting unit.

Net income fell to 157.4 million pounds from 166.8 million pounds in 2006, the London-based company said yesterday.

Lender down

HBOS Plc, the United Kingdom's biggest mortgage lender, said second-half profit fell 8.9 percent after the company wrote down securities and consumer lending declined.

Net income declined to 1.93 billion pounds ($3.84 billion), or 50.9 pence a share, from 2.12 billion pounds, or 55.3 pence a share, a year earlier.

First time

Welt Gruppe, which comprises German newspapers and news web sites owned by Axel Springer AG, posted a profit for the first time, the Financial Times Deutschland reported, attributing the information to Welt Gruppe.

The newspaper group's net income last year was in the "high single digits of millions of euros," the paper said.

Agencies

(China Daily 02/28/2008 page16)