Telekom Malaysia to bid for stake in Indosat
Telekom Malaysia to bid for stake in Indosat
KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia said Friday it will submit a
bid for a 42 percent stake in PT Indonesian Satellite Corp.
(Indosat) before next month's deadline.
"The bid closes in mid October and we are preparing the
documents for the bid. We will be appointing an adviser for the
bid," Telekom chief executive Mohamad Khir Abdul Rahman told
reporters.
He said Telekom has submitted to the relevant Indonesia
authorities its interest to "assess Indosat" and the merits of
the acquisition to ensure it would not overstretch its debt
burden.
"We won't want to acquire too many companies and at the same
time suffer from the burden of debt servicing," he added.
The Indonesian overseas telephone operator announced plans to
sell the stake last month as part of an ambitious privatization
drive.
Potential investors must have minimum total assets of US$450
million as well as significant experience in the telecoms
industry. -- AFP
Sony decides to merge with ailing Aiwa
TOKYO: Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. said Friday it
will merge with its ailing subsidiary Aiwa Co. Ltd. on Dec. 1
instead of just taking 100 percent ownership after radically
restructuring the company.
"Although the integration of Aiwa's operations into Sony has
proceeded smoothly, it was decided that a complete unification of
the two companies by merger would be the best," the firms said in
a statement.
Aiwa's factories in Malaysia and Indonesia have been shut
down, and its domestic production and sales have already been
absorbed into Sony's, the statement said.
Some 600 of Aiwa's remaining 1,100 permanent employees will
have been laid off by October and nearly all Aiwa sales
subsidiaries are in the process of closing, with sales and
services being conducted by Sony in Asia, the Middle East and the
United States, it said.
The move means Aiwa will cease to exist as a company in its
own right and become a sales division of Sony, although Sony said
the Aiwa brand name would survive on products. -- AFP
Sanyo slashes half-year profit forecast
TOKYO: Major Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Sanyo
Electric Co. Ltd. said Friday it would slash its net profit
forecast in the six months to September by more than three
quarters due to restructuring costs.
Net profit was seen at 20 million yen (US$164,000), 77.8
percent lower than forecast in April, with pre-tax profit seen
61.9 percent lower at 80 million yen.
Revenue was seen 4.0 percent higher than previously forecast
at 10.4 billion yen, however, due to higher than expected sales
of audio-visual products, telecoms devices and electronic
components, the company said in a statement.
"Due to a reshuffling of personnel in home appliances and
commercial equipment systems departments and expenses resulting
from subsidiary restructuring costs, pre-tax profit and net
profit are forecast to be below Sanyo's previous outlook," the
firm said. -- AFP
Australian winery announces A$100m expansion plan
SYDNEY: The producer of Jacob's Creek, one of Australia's most
popular wine labels, announced Friday a A$100 million dollar
(US$55 million) expansion program to meet growing overseas
demand.
The Orlando Wyndham winery said the funds would be invested
over the next three years in new vineyards and infrastructure to
boost production of its Jacob's Creek and Wyndham Estate brand
wines.
"We will continue to expand our vineyard plantings, our
wineries, investing in more storage and other infrastructure to
ensure we expand capacity and maintain our high quality
standards," Orlando Wyndham chairman and chief executive
Christian Porta said.
Sales of Jacob's Creek wines have grown at more than 24
percent each year for the past five years and it has been the
most popular wine label overseas for the past decade, the winery
said. -- AFP
Toyota to shut down production line
TOKYO: Japan's top automaker, Toyota Motor Corp., will shut
down a domestic production line for hybrid cars by mid-2003 due
to sluggish demand at home, a business daily said Friday.
The move is aimed at concentrating resources on overseas
production, mainly in China, Europe and the United States and it
would be the first time in 10 years for Toyota to halt a
production line, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.
A production line for hybrid cars -- environmentally friendly
vehicles powered by gasoline engines and electric motors -- at
Toyota's Motomachi plant in Aichi, central Japan will be shut
down, the paper said.
"We are considering implementing measures to boost efficiency
at the Motomachi plant, but nothing has been decided at this
moment," said Keiko Sato.
Apart from the production line for hybrid cars, the Motomachi
plant has another production line for luxury sedans. In 1990, the
plant produced 450,000 cars but that number plunged to 140,000,
including hybrid cars, last year due to poor domestic demand, the
daily said. -- AFP
Shell, BASF launch US$500m chemicals plant
SINGAPORE: Shell and BASF officially launched their new US$500
million chemicals plant Friday, the largest plant of its kind in
Asia.
The plant - called Ellba Eastern - will be used to produce
styrene monomer and propylene oxide, the starting materials for
the manufacture of plastics such as polystyrene and polyurethane.
Polystyrene is used in automotive construction, electrical
engineering and packaging, while polyurethane is used in
upholstered furniture and shoe soles.
The plant - on Singapore's Jurong Island - has a capacity of
550,000 tons of styrene monomer annually and 250,000 tons of
propylene oxide every year. -- Dow Jones