Yahoo Japan gets broadband boost

TOKYO >> Japan's top Internet portal, Yahoo Japan Corp, said yesterday its sales and profit doubled in the first half as brisk growth in its new high-speed Internet access service offset slowing advertising sales.

The company, controlled by Internet investor Softbank Corp, said parent sales in April-September rose 119.8 percent from a year earlier to &YEN11.87 billion ($98 million).

The results confirmed analysts' views that Yahoo Japan's business model is shifting towards that of an Internet service provider and portal business, similar to that of America Online.

U.S. portal Yahoo! Inc, which holds a 32.3 percent stake in Yahoo Japan, is also looking for new growth to make up for falling advertising revenue as the U.S. economy slows.

In the first half, the new broadband Internet service, dubbed "Yahoo! BB", won 130,000 users and brought in 3.8 billion yen in sales, or about 31.8 percent of total revenue, Yahoo Japan said.

Daewoo Motor posts operating profit

SEOUL >> Daewoo Motor Co. said yesterday it posted an operating profit in the third quarter, raising hopes of a successful takeover deal with General Motors Corp.

The company, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, said its operating profit was 35 billion won ($26.9 million) in the July-September period. An operating profit excludes payments due on debt. It was the second consecutive quarterly operating profit for Daewoo.

"The progress is faster than expected and shows that a profit-based business structure has begun to take root," Daewoo Motor said in a statement.

Aggressive cost-cutting measures and increased sales since GM signed a preliminary takeover deal with creditors on Sept. 21 helped the progress, it said.

Qiao Xing profit slumps 54% as sales decline

New York >> Qiao Xing Universal Telephone Inc., China's second-biggest phone set maker, said net profit tumbled more than half in the first six months this year because of a decline in sales.

Profit fell to $1.3 million, or 10 cents a share, from $2.8 million, or 25 cents per share, the same period a year earlier, the Nasdaq-listed company said in a statement distributed by the Business Newswire after regular stock trading closed. Sales dropped 34 percent to $15.2 million, from $22.9 million a year earlier.

An increase in demand for the company's caller ID telephones and other new products in the second half of the year is expected to help make up for the decline, said Qiao Xing Chairman Wu Rui- Lin.

Hyundai Securities, AIG talks stumble

SEOUL >> Plans by a U.S. consortium to take control of South Korea's third biggest brokerage, Hyundai Securities Co, in a $850 million deal hit a snag yesterday after new demands made by the U.S. investors, Hyundai said.

Hyundai Securities recently cancelled a briefing with American International Group, the world's largest insurer, to protest the demands, which come a month after the two agreed to what would be South Korea's biggest foreign investment deal.

AIG wants Hyundai to pay higher dividends on preferred shares and allow them to be converted into common shares in a year, a Hyundai executive said, describing the demands and three other issues raised by AIG as "nonsense".

The 1.1 trillion won deal was due to be signed in November and is crucial to the survival of Hyundai's ailing financial units.

In other news ...

BRUSSELS, Belgium >> The European Union is prepared to impose antidumping duties on imported Japanese bicycle gears, despite fears by retailers it could lead to higher prices and job losses. An investigation by the European Commission found that Shimano Inc. of Japan was selling internal hub gears in Europe at a lower cost than in Japan. As a result, an EU spokesman said yesterday, the 11.3 percent antidumping duty is expected to be "rubber-stamped" by EU governments today.

BANGKOK >>Thailand yesterday approved a proposal to set up a new $250 million equity fund with money from the government and international agencies to invest in listed and unlisted local companies. Fund managers and analysts welcomed the move but said it was unlikely to have much influence on the local stock market because the sums involved were likely to be too small.

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[Taking Notice]

NEW JOBS

>> Clarisse Eguchi has been named human resources manager at the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel. She most recently served as personnel manager at Sallee Hawaii Corp. Eguchi is a master's degree candidate at HPU.

PROMOTIONS

>> Mark Takemoto has been named landscape project manager at Dole Plantation. He is also responsible for supervising the maintenance of Dole Plantation's Pineapple Garden Maze. Takemoto previously served as landscaping supervisor at the plantation.

>> Robert Kamemoto has been named senior vice president and division manager at Central Pacific Bank. He will oversee the corporate banking division and its management functions. Kamemoto, who joined CPB in 1980, previously served as vice president and division manager.

>> Tyler B. Miyamoto has been promoted to director of engineering at SSFM International Inc.