Kirin may make bid for Australia's Dairy Farmers

Kirin Holdings Co, Japan's biggest beverage maker, may bid for Australian milk processor Dairy Farmers to build on its dairy business in the country, President Kazuyasu Kato said.

IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Business International

TNT suffers unexpected decline in Q4 earnings

TNT NV, Europe's second-biggest express-delivery service, posted an unexpected drop in fourth-quarter profit because of the costs of reorganization.

Will food consumers bite back in 2008?

For more than a year, food makers and other consumer products companies have passed on much of the burden of rising commodity costs to consumers.

Fair features latest in hi-tech toys

A life-like toy golden retriever by Hasbro Inc and a joking, story-telling Elmo doll from Mattel Inc's Fisher Price line figure to be two of the year's hottest toys as the American International Toy Fair began on Sunday.

End near in DVD format battle

Consumers and investors cheered an impending end to a format war for next-generation DVDs yesterday, with share gains for both Toshiba, on the verge of abandoning its HD DVD discs, and Sony, the leader of the rival Blu-ray camp.

Australia expects bumper harvest

Australia is set for a bumper wheat harvest this year following good rain in the last three months, according to National Australia Bank, which expects the crop to jump to at least 23 million tons.

IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Business International

Takeover talk boosts stocks across Europe, Asia

Stocks rose for a second day in Europe and Asia on takeover speculation after UK pub owner Mitchells & Butlers Plc received a merger proposal and speculation that an offer may be made for German builder Hochtief AG.

Probe says SocGen's controls 'failed'

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Societe Generale SA's internal controls "clearly" failed to detect a trader's deals that led to a 4.9 billion-euro loss.