Mandala increases Ambon service

Privately-owned airline Mandala Airlines now flies daily from Jakarta to Ambon and vice versa using a Boeing 737-200 plane.

Prior to the daily service, which was launched on Monday, the airline served the route six times a week.

The company said in a statement on Friday that the Jakarta- Ambon flight would depart from Terminal 1 of Soekarno-Hatta Airport at 6.45 a.m. local time and arrive at Pattimura Airport, Ambon, at 1.15 p.m. local time.

The return flight from Ambon will depart at 2 p.m. local time and arrive in Jakarta at 4.20 local time. On both flights, the plane will transit for 45 minutes in Makassar.

With this service, Mandala has expanded its coverage in the eastern part of Indonesia, going some way to meeting the area's increasing demand for air services, it said.

Mandala, which was established in 1969, is now the largest privately owned airline, serving 14 Indonesian cities. - JP

Japanese builder Hazama slashes jobs, warns of losses

TOKYO: Struggling Japanese construction firm Hazama said Friday it will slash almost 40 percent of its workforce, reorganize its construction and real estate arms and sell off assets.

The firm also warned it would post a net loss of 123.2 billion yen (US$1.0 billion) in the year to March after revaluing its assets, reversing earlier predictions of a 600 million yen profit.

"In order to boost our productivity even as the size of the industry shrinks, we will -- starting at our head office -- shrink as much as possible indirect businesses and raise management efficiency," Hazama Corp. said in a statement.

The embattled builder aims to cut 905 of its 3,085 staff by March 2004 and a further 232 by March 2006. -- AFP

Failed Japanese insurer to pay US$138.66m for disclosure failures

TOKYO: A Japanese court on Friday ordered a failed insurer to pay US$138.66 million for not disclosing its financial health to another insurer with which it formed a tie-up.

The Tokyo District Court ordered Daiichi Mutual Fire and Marine Insurance to pay 16.36 billion yen (US$138.66 million), in compensation to Gibraltar Life Insurance, formerly known as Kyoei Life Insurance before it came under the control of U.S. giant Prudential Insurance.

Daiichi, currently in the process of liquidation, knew it was going to fail but went ahead with forming operational and capital tie-ups with Kyoei, which paid Daiichi 30 billion yen in 1999, according to the ruling.

"(Daiichi) did not release appropriate information" to Kyoei, judge Tasuku Daimon told the court.

"Daiichi did not correct the situation when Kyoei mistakenly believed financial information that was very different from the reality," the judge said in his ruling.

In 1999, Daiichi said its solvency margin was 330 percent, above the 200 percent level where authorities would order insurers to improve their finances.

The government, however, later found Daiichi's solvency margin was a negative 74 percent. -- AFP

Goodyear cutting 700 jobs to trim costs

AKRON, Ohio: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will eliminate 700 salaried jobs to trim costs, the world's largest tire maker said Thursday.

Nearly 500 positions will be eliminated through layoffs by March 31. Another 200 positions have been left vacant through attrition since Oct. 1.

In addition to 350 salaried jobs eliminated in its hometown of Akron, another 34 hourly positions will be cut at its Akron Technical Center. The other cuts will be across North America.

Goodyear said the cuts would save US$80 million annually, including $75 million this year. The company will take a pretax charge of $75 million to cover costs related to the cuts. -- AP

Constellation takes over BRL Hardy to form world's top wine company

SYDNEY: US drinks group Constellation Brands agreed a 1.9 billion dollar (1.1 billion US) takeover bid with Australian winemaker BRL Hardy Friday to create the world's largest wine company.

BRL Hardy said its board had unanimously recommended a takeover offer from Constellation Brands of 10.50 dollars a share in cash, stock or a combination of both.

The wine businesses of both companies will merge to form Constellation Wines and will have combined annual wine sales of about three billion dollars (1.7 billion US).

BRL chief executive Stephen Millar will become chief executive officer of the combined wine business and will report to Constellation Brands' current CEO Richard Sands, who was in Adelaide Friday for talks on the deal.

Millar said the purchase would create new networks of sales for Australian wine.

"We believe the opportunity to drive shareholder value comes from Australian and New Zealand wines being driven in world markets and you know the success Australian wine is having -- number one now in the UK," Millar said during a conference call with analysts.

BRL Hardy shares were suspended from trading on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Friday pending the announcement which came just before the close of trade. consumer analyst David Errington said. -AFP

Austrian motorbike maker turns sport into business success

VIENNA: Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM, set to win the Paris-Dakar rally for the third year running on Sunday, has seen its sales explode to the point that it is threatening the hegemony of the Japanese and the German BMW.

On Friday, two days before the 2003 race is due to finish at Sharm el-Sheikh, the company's all-terrain motorbikes held the 15 leading places in the general ranking.

"Dakar is very important for our image in France and at a global level," explained Karl Pernull, director of KTM France.

"We are omnipresent in this race because our products are the first choice for those taking part in the Dakar race. We would like to see more competition from other lines," he added.

KTM is based in Mattighofen, a small town in central Upper Austria just 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border with Bavaria, southern Germany, and has based its commercial success on sport.

The firm is seventh in the world ranking, behind Japan's four biggest names Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki, BMW of Germany and Harley Davidson of United States.

It has 40 official drivers who take part in all kinds of competitions, from motocross to endurance to 125 cc speed races.

"That is more than all the other labels," said Pernull.

Each year KTM dedicates five percent of its turnover to sport competitions -- a profitable investment given how far sales have progressed over the last few years.

In 2002 KTM sold 61,700 motorbikes, 35 percent more than in 2001. This year the firm expects to sell 76,000 bikes, an increase of 23 percent from 2002.

The company, which exports 95 percent of its output, is among the 10 firms with the fastest-growing profits in Austria, according to a ranking published by the monthly economic magazine Trend, published in Vienna.

In 2002 KTM made net profits of 16.4 million euros from a turnover of 314 million euros. -AFP

US investment fund KKR mulls counterbid for British food chain Safeway

LONDON: US investment fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts said Friday it was considering making an offer for British supermarket chain Safeway, becoming the fourth company to put the group in its sights.

US retail giant Wal-Mart and British rival J Sainsbury have already expressed an interest in Britain's fourth largest grocery chain, the subject of an agreed takeover bid launched last week by smaller rival William Morrison.

Wal-Mart already owns the Asda supermarket group in Britain.

In a short statement, KKR said that it had approached Safeway about a possible offer and was considering its position.

The prospect of a takeover fight for control of Safeway has caused a stir in the London financial centre, coming amid a dearth of merger and acquisition activity.- AFP