Antam to build new plant next year<\/p>\n
JAKARTA: State-owned PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) said Friday it
\nexpects the construction of its third ferronickel plant in South
\nSulawesi to begin next year.<\/p>\n
Its President Director Dedi Aditya Sumanagara said the
\nconstruction is expected to start soon after it signs a final
\nloan agreement, expected to be in March next year.<\/p>\n
Antam will receive US$255 million financing from German export
\ncredit agency Hermes Kreditversicherungs AG to finance the
\nferronickel project, which is expected to cost around $380
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
The company will receive a $75 million loan from state-owned
\nBank Mandiri, and will use internal cash amounting to $50 million
\nfor the project, which will double its ferronickel output to
\naround 25,000 metric tons per year.<\/p>\n
Antam is 65 percent-owned by the Indonesian government, and is
\nlisted on both the Jakarta and Australian Stock Exchanges. --Dow
\nJones<\/p>\n
Bridgestone returns to profit<\/p>\n
TOKYO: Japan's top tyre maker Bridgestone Corp. said Friday it
\nreturned to profit in the first half to June, recovering from the
\neffects of a huge tyre recall scandal in the United States.<\/p>\n
The impact on business of the recall of 6.5 million tyres by
\nits Firestone subsidiary in the U.S. in 2000 after a spate of
\ndeadly accidents is dissipating, said chief executive Shigeo
\nWatanabe.<\/p>\n
The firm's net profit jumped to 24.5 billion yen (US$204.2
\nmillion) in the first half to June, reversing a loss of 30.6
\nbillion yen a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Its pre-tax profit rose 78 percent to 55.7 billion yen, while
\nrevenue of 1,093.5 billion yen was up from 1,027.5 billion yen
\npreviously.<\/p>\n
Bridgestone's first half U.S. tyre sales rose 12 percent to
\n500.5 billion yen and a 4.8 billion yen operating profit reversed
\na loss last year caused by the tyre recall scandal. --AFP<\/p>\n
Japan's McDonald's profits plunge<\/p>\n
TOKYO: The Japanese arm of McDonald's said Friday its profits
\nplunged 81.4 percent in the first half as people lost their
\nappetite for burgers after an outbreak of mad cow disease.<\/p>\n
McDonald's Holdings Co (Japan) also slashed a full year
\nforecast to December as consumption was expected to remain weak
\namid a deep economic slump.<\/p>\n
Its net profit over the six months to June sank to 1.4 billion
\nyen (US$11.7 million) from 7.6 billion yen a year ago.<\/p>\n
The firm's pre-tax profit plummeted 80.5 percent in the first
\nhalf to June to 2.5 billion yen, on sales of 158.3 billion yen --
\ndown 13.9 percent from previously.<\/p>\n
Last September, Japan became the first Asian country to
\nharbour the brain wasting illness in its cattle, triggering a
\nnationwide health scare that decimated beef consumption and
\nexports. --AFP<\/p>\n
Marconi to cut 1,000 jobs<\/p>\n
LONDON: The British telecommunications equipment maker Marconi
\nsaid Thursday it planned to eliminate as many as 1,000 more jobs
\nin addition to the 7,000 it has cut in the past two years.<\/p>\n
\"Today we told our workforce that we are starting a
\nconsultation process on a further round of redundancies,\" said
\nMarconi spokesman David Beck.<\/p>\n
\"We expect there to be up to 1,000 further redundancies.\"<\/p>\n
He said the company hoped that most redundancies would be
\nvoluntary but could not rule out compulsory job cuts.<\/p>\n
Marconi has suffered from the severe downturn in the global
\ntelecommunications sector and by expenses associated with a wave
\nof costly acquisitions in 1999 and 2000.<\/p>\n
The group in July 2001 cut its net earnings projections for
\n2001-2002 by half.<\/p>\n
The 7,000 jobs eliminated thus far in a restructuring plan
\namounted to half its workforce. --AFP<\/p>\n
FTC reach settlement with Microsoft<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON: U.S. regulators said Thursday they had reached a
\nsettlement with Microsoft over its failure to protect users'
\npersonal data in its \"Passport\" Internet service.<\/p>\n
The Federal Trade Commission said Microsoft had falsely told
\nconsumers that it adequately protected personal data, including
\ncredit card numbers, which were collected by the Passport
\nprogram.<\/p>\n
The Passport service stores personal data so that users need
\nnot retype it on each website. Passport Wallet does the same
\nthing for Internet purchases. Kids Passport lets parents restrict
\nthe information collected from the system's participating
\nwebsites.<\/p>\n
As part of the settlement, Microsoft is required to implement
\na comprehensive information security program, to be certified by
\nan independent expert every two years. It also must refrain from
\nmaking false claims about the Passport service. --AFP<\/p>",
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