SEOUL: General Motors Corp is expected to submit a revised bid

SEOUL: General Motors Corp is expected to submit a revised bid for South Korea's bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co this week, its main lender Korea Development Bank said on Thursday.

After more than a year of talks, the world's largest automaker signed a memorandum of understanding with Daewoo's creditors last September to acquire four of the South Korean automaker's plants for US$400 million.

The deal is seen as a crucial barometer of the South Korean government's willingness to wean its ailing businesses from financial assistance from creditors.

"I cannot speculate on what shape the latest offer would be, but GM is expected to submit its latest proposal this week, based on its due diligence studies," Korea Development Bank spokesman Roh Yung-gi told Reuters.

"Our plan, after we receive the proposal, is to make a speedy agreement possible," he said. -- Reuters

Cisco beats Q2 expectations

SAN JOSE, California: Cisco Systems Inc. reported higher-than- expected profits and sales Wednesday for its fiscal second quarter, suggesting the networking giant may be rebounding from the economic downturn.

For the three months ended Jan. 26, Cisco earned US$660 million, or 9 cents a share, on revenue of $4.8 billion, compared with earnings of $874 million, or 12 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Excluding one-time charges, the company earned $664 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with profits of $1.3 billion, or 18 cents a share, a year ago.

Analysts were expecting profits of 5 cents a share on revenue of $4.5 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial/First Call. --

"This was a very solid quarter," said John Chambers, Cisco's chief executive. "Our results reflect Cisco's unique position to help our customers with their business priorities - profits, cash flow and productivity." -- AP

Philips plunges to record loss

AMSTERDAM: The Dutch consumer electronics giant Philips reported a record 2.6 billion-euro (US$2.25 billion) loss for the year 2001 on Thursday, as against a record profit of 9.6 billion euros in 2000.

Although the company said the "severe declines of the IT and telecommunications markets" which affected the electronics giant in 2001 "have now stopped" it added that "in general, we do not see markets strengthening".

For the fourth quarter of last year Philips suffered a 1.14- billion-euro loss.

The figure disappointed analysts, who had been expecting a loss of between 784 million and 818 million euros for the fourth quarter.

Sales for 2001 dropped 15 percent to 32.339 billion euros. -- AFP