The Korea Herald

Toyota forecasts profit will double in 5 years

Toyota Motor Corp., Asia’s biggest carmaker, forecast profit will more than double to a five-year high as it shakes off last year’s natural disasters and introduces new models to regain market share. Net income may increase to 760 billion yen ($9.5 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 2013, after falling to 283.6 billion yen, the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker said Wednesday. The profit forecast was 7 percent below the average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg, while the company proj

May 10, 2012

Toyota forecasts profit will double in 5 years

Asian airlines post slow growth on fuel

Singapore Air posts loss, Cathay warns of disappointing H1Singapore Airlines Ltd., the world’s second-largest carrier by market value, posted an unexpected quarterly loss and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. slowed growth plans as they struggle with higher fuel costs and waning demand. Singapore Air posted a loss of S$38.2 million ($30 million) in the three months ended March 31, compared with a profit of S$171 million a year earlier, it said in a statement Wednesday. The carrier was expected to post

May 10, 2012

Eurozone blocks 1 billion euros in Greek bailout

BRUSSELS (AFP) ― The eurozone has blocked one billion out of 5.2 billion euros in bailout loans for Greece until Monday amid uncertainty over the country’s political future, a European government source said.“An amount of 4.2 billion euros will be disbursed on May 10,” said a statement from the EU’s temporary bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.Eurozone officials who met Wednesday evening “decided to leave the decision on disbursement of one billion to the Eurogroup on Monday

May 10, 2012

CIC stops buying Europe government debt

China Investment Corp. has stopped buying European government debt because of an economic crisis on the continent, though it continues to look for new investments there, said CIC President Gao Xiqing. “What is happening in Europe right now is of course of concern,” Gao said Wednesday in an interview in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the World Economic Forum on Africa. “We still have our people looking at opportunities in Europe, even though we don’t want to buy any government bonds.” European lea

May 10, 2012

Fed clears China’s U.S. bank takeover

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The United States on Wednesday opened its banking market to ICBC, China’s biggest bank, for the first time clearing a takeover of a U.S. bank by a Chinese state-controlled company.Just days after high-level U.S.-China economic talks in Beijing, the Federal Reserve approved an application from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to buy a majority stake in the U.S. subsidiary of Bank of East Asia.The transaction will make ICBC the first Chinese state-controlled bank to acqui

May 10, 2012

Japan‘s Softbank ties up with eBay in online billing

TOKYO (AFP) -- Internet auction giant eBay and mobile phone operator Softbank said Wednesday they were teaming up to bring the U.S. firm‘s PayPal online billing system to Japan for the first time.The PayPal Here offering will let retailers accept payments by credit or debit card via a thumb-sized device on retailers’ smartphones, with Softbank President Masayoshi Son saying the pair “will seek to become number one” in online settlements in Japan.Despite being a major force in online billing worl

May 9, 2012

Gas prices likely won’t set record this summer

NEW YORK (AP) ― Gasoline prices likely won’t set any records this summer, thanks to a recent drop in the price of oil.The government on Tuesday slashed its forecast for average gas prices to $3.79 per gallon for the summer driving season. That’s down from an initial estimate of $3.95 and below 2008’s record average of $3.80.The Energy Information Administration’s revised forecast is encouraging news for the economy. Some economists blame high pump prices for so-so consumer spending this year. Th

May 9, 2012

Gas prices likely won’t set record this summer

Australia cuts defense, aid to hit budget surplus

CANBERRA (AP) ― Australia’s government said it will rein in defense spending and scale back promised increases in foreign aid as it tries to become the first major developed economy to balance its books after the global economic crisis.Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan on Tuesday outlined big spending cuts to achieve a 1.5 billion Australian dollar ($1.5 billion) budget surplus in the fiscal year beginning July 1.The budget deficit for the current year has almost doubled from the le

May 9, 2012

ECB member warns France, Greece not to waver

BERLIN (AFP) ― A member of the European Central Bank’s board warned France and Greece Tuesday in a newspaper interview not to waver from their fiscal commitments after voters rewarded anti-austerity parties.Joerg Asmussen of Germany told the daily Handelsblatt that France’s Socialist president-elect Francois Hollande should uphold the country’s pledge to get its public finances under control.“I expect France to implement the fiscal pact unchanged,” he said, in an interview to be published Wednes

May 9, 2012

Exxon Mobil tops Fortune 500 list

Jump in oil prices boosts Exxon Mobil atop list, nudging Wal-Mart asideNEW YORK (AP) ― Exxon Mobil has bumped Wal-Mart from first place among the Fortune 500 top revenue-generating U.S. companies thanks to rising oil prices. Fortune Magazine released its annual list on Monday. Oil producers saw some of the biggest revenue increases as a rebellion in Libya and high demand worldwide pushed oil prices higher. The price of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil soared 19 percent. Brent crude, w

May 8, 2012

‘Investors shouldn’t act on headline’

Buffett says Europe will have hard time resolving fiscal problems, won’t affect his plansOMAHA (AP) ― Billionaire Warren Buffett said Monday that Europe will have a hard time resolving its fiscal problems because of the structure of the European Union and this weekend’s election results in Greece and France. But he says the turmoil in Europe won’t keep him from investing. Buffett said Berkshire plans to add to its stakes Monday in two U.S. companies. “I think the worst mistake you can make in st

May 8, 2012

Japan warns France to stick to fiscal reform plans

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan on Tuesday warned French president-elect Francois Hollande to keep the nation’s fiscal discipline in place amid worries the new leader will overspend in a bid to boost the economy.“Our stance is unchanged,” Finance Minister Jun Azumi told a regular news conference in Tokyo, according to Dow Jones Newswires.“We want (France) to do what has been decided so far, and I’d like to tell them about that if there is the opportunity.”On Monday, Azumi said Hollande “fully understands” t

May 8, 2012

Japan warns France to stick to fiscal reform plans

No honeymoon from EU debt for Hollande

PARIS (AFP) ― France’s president-elect Francois Hollande was plunged straight into the European economic debate as doubts over his plans and turmoil in Greece threatened to tip the eurozone back into crisis.The 57-year-old Socialist won power on Sunday, ousting right-wing leader Nicolas Sarkozy, and is due to take office formally on May 15 before embarking on a packed calendar of major international summits.First on his agenda will be Europe’s debt crisis, where he is on a collision course with

May 8, 2012

Lexus claiming No. 1 lost to BMW in U.S. riding on new GS

Lexus wants Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Mercedes-Benz car buyers to know it can be more than just dependable. To promote the revamped GS series, Lexus said that Sports Illustrated model Tori Praver helped to inspire a track challenged by American car-racing ace Scott Pruett, while armchair drivers keen to join in the action can get the Tori 500 app for the iPhone and iPad. The publicity helped Lexus sell more than 4,900 GS cars in the U.S. within two months of its introduction, exceeding sal

May 7, 2012

Lexus claiming No. 1 lost to BMW in U.S. riding on new GS

Clinton presses India on Iran oil

KOLKATA (AP) ― U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged energy-starved India on Monday to reduce its Iranian oil imports to keep up pressure on the Islamic republic to come clean about its nuclear program.Clinton told a town hall meeting in the eastern city of Kolkata that there’s an adequate supply in the market for India to find alternative sources of oil. Clinton noted India has taken some steps to reduce its imports from Iran but she says the U.S. wants to see more.“If there were

May 7, 2012

Buffett says opportunities abound in Asia

Berkshire Hathaway chairman targets Asia for reinsurance, ice cream expansionWarren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said he’s pursuing more opportunities in Asia after boosting reinsurance sales and expanding the Iscar Metalworking Cos. unit on the continent. “Korea, Japan and you name it,” Buffett, 81, said at Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire’s annual meeting. Buffett visited South Korea, Japan and India last year, and China in 2010. Berkshire owned almost 4 million

May 7, 2012

Buffett says opportunities abound in Asia

BOJ pressed by government for decisive action to defeat deflation

Bank of Japan minutes show the government pressing for “visible results” from efforts to end decade-long deflation that is weighing on the nation’s recovery from last year’s earthquake and economic contraction.The BOJ should “conduct monetary policy flexibly and decisively” a Cabinet Office representative said at a April 9-10 policy meeting, according to a record of the gathering released in Tokyo Monday. It’s “particularly important” to promptly achieve a central bank goal of 1 percent inflatio

May 7, 2012

BOJ pressed by government for decisive action to defeat deflation

Germany vows to work with France on growth pact

BERLIN (AFP) ― Germany’s foreign minister said on Sunday Berlin would work with France on mapping out a growth pact for Europe, as he hailed Francois Hollande’s election as French president as an “historic event.”Speaking to reporters at the French embassy in Berlin, Guido Westerwelle sought to allay fears that a change of power in Paris would put the brakes on the Franco-German motor that has driven Europe through the crisis.“We will work together on a growth pact” for the embattled European ec

May 7, 2012

Markets worried about Greece than France

PARIS (AFP) ― Financial markets will likely be more worried about the outcome of the Greek election and the future of its international bailout than Francois Hollande’s winning the French presidency, analysts said.“The week ahead looks to be high risk, but paradoxically it is maybe Greece that weighs heavier in the balance than the French election,” said Valerie Plagnol, director of research at Credit Suisse.Greece’s two main parties suffered big losses, with anti-austerity parties winning up to

May 7, 2012

Growth is the question, reforms are the key: EU analysts

The contours of recession and recovery inside the EU will be drawn with forecasts this week and a quarterly snapshot next week, setting the scene for an informal summit on growth likely by the end of May.The new data, together with leading indicators from eurozone businesses, will keep financial markets on edge, the European Central Bank on watch and political controversy about austerity versus growth on the boil.The austerity-growth dilemma has come to a head, pitching so-called supply-side eco

May 7, 2012