IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Traffic up

Air France-KLM Group, Europe's biggest airline, said passenger traffic increased 6 percent last month, driven by demand for flights to Asia and the Americas.

The load factor, or proportion of seats filled, rose 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier to 79.3 percent, the Paris-based airline said in a statement yesterday. The passenger total advanced 3.8 percent to 6.6 million.

Corn leaps

Corn jumped to a record as rain in the US Midwest flooded fields, delaying planting and threatening to reduce crops. Soybeans, wheat and rice also gained as soaring oil costs and the dollar's drop boosted demand for an inflation hedge.

Corn for July delivery rose as much as 22.25 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $6.73 in after-hours trading on the Chicago Board of Trade and stood at $6.675 at 4:38 pm Singapore time.

Missions cancelled

The French navy has cancelled three missions during the coming months because of the rising cost of fuel, Le Figaro reported, citing a spokesman.

The navy has cancelled a planned call by the Mistral carrier to the northern port of Le Havre, a mission by the Montcalm frigate in the Black Sea and another by the De Grasse frigate alongside the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, French navy spokesman Jerome Erulin was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Cost-cutting plans

Volkswagen AG, Europe's biggest automaker by sales, expects to reduce production costs of its new VW Golf models by about $1,600 per car by keeping the same platform, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company's current Golf version, has been produced since 2003 yet only made money the past two years, the newspaper said.

Casino purchase

Sky City Entertainment Group Ltd, New Zealand's largest casino operator, will spend more than A$50 million ($48 million) acquiring and developing beachfront land next to its Darwin casino in Australia's Northern Territory.

The 5,400 square-meter Little Mindil site will be developed for outdoor recreation areas including a boardwalk and beachside promenade, Auckland-based Sky City said.

McDonald's rises

McDonald's Corp said May sales jumped as demand in the UK, France and Australia outpaced growth in the US, causing the shares to rise the most since January in New York trading.

Sales at stores open more than 13 months increased 7.7 percent, led by a 9.6 percent increase in Europe and a 9.7 percent gain in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said yesterday in a statement.

Bank bid

HSBC Holdings Plc, Standard Chartered Plc and CIMB Group Sdn. are among potential bidders for a 42 percent stake in unprofitable BankThai Pcl, part-owned by US buyout firm TPG Inc, five people familiar with the plan said.

TPG of Fort Worth, Texas, which owns 42 percent of the Thai bank with its partners, also plans to bid for the stake held by the nation's central bank, the sources said.

Japanese acquisition

South Korea's Lotte Group has agreed to buy more than 50 percent of Cosmo Investment Management Co, the nation's largest investment consulting firm, from Japan's Sparx Group Co.

The exact size of the stake and the price have yet to be decided, Seoul-based Lotte, the industrial group centered on South Korea's biggest department-store chain, said yesterday.

Agencies

(China Daily 06/10/2008 page17)