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Vodafone Group PLC of the United Kingdom will experience business as usual at its Japan unit despite an impairment charge of between 23 billion Pounds ($40 billion) and 28 billion Pounds. The largest telecommunications company is expecting slower revenue growth next year.

Sony Corp. of Japan is restructuring, planning on creating a holding company for its retail unit and selling a 51 percent stake to Nikko Principal Investments Japan Ltd. also of Japan. Sony Corp. is focusing management strategy on its core consumer electronics operations.

Hitachi Ltd. of Japan posted a 79 percent profit loss to 5.49 billion Yen ($46.3 million) in the third quarter. The largest electronics company in Japan had costs associated with the listing of its semiconductor subsidiary last year and hasn't been able to absorb price reductions enough amidst stiff competition.

NEC Electronics Inc. Japan plans to buy back two of its subsidiaries, NEC System Technologies and NEC Soft, sparking stocks to rise.

Sony is being cautious about expectations for its third quarter as the international home-audio-equipment market continues to decrease in size.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. posted an increase of 51% in its group earnings for the half ending September 30, 2000. The company posted 51.37 billion yen (562.3 million euros) in group net profits for the period.

The merger of Exxon and Mobil is expected to impact the firms' interests in Asia. Exxon Mobil Corp has the largest natural gas reserves in Indonesia, so the fields off the Natuna islands are a focus of speculation. Projects in South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Australia and Singapore are also under consideration, including changes at Esso Sekiyu KK, Mobil Sekiyu KK, and other refining and retail operations.

Fujitsu Ltd. posted a lower net loss of 24.9 billion yen (193.5 million euros) for the fiscal third quarter ending December 2002. The company posted a 106.2 million yen net loss in the same period the year before. Fujitsu is maintaining its full-year profit forecasts.

Fujitsu Ltd. posted a 10 billion yen ($84.1 million) operating loss for the April-June 2002 quarter. The loss however, was lower than what the company had forecasted for the period.

NEC Corp. is studying the possibility of either shutting down or divesting its personal computer (PC) plants in Malaysia and in the United Kingdom. The move, which would take place by the fall of 2002, is designed to bring profitability to NEC's PC business.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. posted 26.45 billion yen (227.9 million euros) in group net profits for the year ending March 31, 2002. The profit represented the first one that the company has posted since 1999.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. posted a 431.01 billion yen net loss for the year ending March 31, 2002, a record figure for the company. However, Matsushita is forecasting better results for the current fiscal year.

Start-up company Beijing LHWT Microelectronics Inc. has won a contract from Sony Corp. to design large-scale integrated circuits for design systems. Applications of the circuits are mobile-phone handsets and digital television sets.

Nintendo Co. posted a drop of 42% in its operating profits for the year ending March 31, 2001. The company posted 84.7 million yen (825.4 million euros) in operating profits for the yearly period.

Corporate bankruptcies in Japan totaled a record 26 billion yen last year, but the government may be unable to toughen debt programs due to threats of a recession and the need for popular support in the upcoming election. Also, NKK Corp. and Kawasaki Steel Corp., the second- and third-largest steelmakers in Japan, are planning to merge.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. posted a decline of 62% in its group net profits for the quarter ending December 2000. The company posted 22.8 billion yen (213.2 million euros) in group net profits for the period.

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. has set a goal to raise sales of memory chips by 76% over the next five-year period. The company hopes to post 390 billion yen (3.6 billion euros) in memory chip sales by the end of fiscal year ending March 2006.

Hitachi Ltd. and NEC Corp. will merge their dynamic random access memory (DRAM), programs and invest in a new DRAM plant in Hiroshima, Japan through their previously formed joint venture, Elpida Memory Inc.

Showa Shell Sekiyu KK and Japan Energy Corp. plan to reduce costs by allying their refining, lube oils and domestic oil distribution activities. The companies aim to save up to 30 billion yen per year.

The Japanese Defense Agency accused eleven petroleum companies of collusion to fix prices and terms of tender offers. Under arrest are officials of companies including Nippon Mitsubishi Oil and Showa Shell Sekiyu. In addition to fines, some officials have been sentenced to prison terms for violating the Antimonopoly Law.

Singapore's Caltex Corp. announced on July 28, 1999, it would sell its 50% stake in Japanese oil refiner KOA Oil Company Ltd. through a public tender. Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Corp. (NMOC), which has a 5.83% stake in KOA Oil, will make a public tender buyout offer for 72.6 million shares of KOA, the equivalent of a 50% stake. Under Japanese stock regulations, NMOC must make a tender offer, and members of the Japanese public, who own 44.17% of KOA Oil, could also offer to sell their shares. NMOC is offering $3.10/share.

Mitsubishi Oil Co Ltd and Nippon Oil Co Ltd plan to merge in Nov 1998, to become the largest petroleum refiner and retailer in Japan. The new company, Nisseki Mitsubishi Co, is expected to cut costs by measures including decreased staff. The two companies' service stations will probably be integrated under a single name within three years.

The Export-Import Bank of Japan will extend a $2.5 billion emergency loan to Japanese wholesalers and refiners to allay industry concerns over securing funds. The loan, extended Mar. 1998, is targeted for crude import payments. Many Japanese corporations have also been issuing domestic corporate bonds in response to rising difficulties in obtaining loans from banks.

Japanese gasoline service stations are charging Yen 80-83 per liter for regular gasoline while wholesalers are charging Yen 89 per liter during Oct 1997. This competition throughout the country is causing retail gas stations to lose money while selling more gas. The price war illustrates the poor management of the petroleum industry.

British Petroleum Company PLC (BP) plans to have its BP Japan KK subsidiary open five gas stations in Gunma prefecture, Japan, by March 1998. BP is entering Japan's retail sector because deregulation is fostering changes in consumer attitudes that make success possible despite intense competition, says VP Kenichi Yamazaki of BP Japan. Also in Japan, Exxon Corp. has increased its stake in petroleum refining company General Sekiyu KK to 50.1%.

Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) is likely to lift restrictions on the country's oil product exports in 1997. The measure is part of a larger plan to deregulate Japan's petroleum industry. MITI believes that liberalizing oil product exports will improve sales of surplus supplies, thus improving facilities' utilization for Japanese refiners and cutting their operating costs.

Japanese oil companies Mitsubishi Oil Company Ltd. and Showa Shell Sekiyu KK are considering a merger of their refining divisions as early as 1998, a move that would create the world's largest refining company. The total sales volume of the proposed joint venture would exceed the total sum of Mitsubishi's and Showa's sales, estimated at more than $16 billion annually. The Mitsubishi/Showa joint venture could account for 20% of the market for domestic refined products.

The Russian tanker Nakhodka had an accident during a Jan 2, 1997, storm in the Sea of Japan, causing approximately $139 million in damage and causing the deaths of five oil spill cleanup crew members. Japan is pressing Russia to join a shipping convention, with talks slated for Feb 5, 1997. Japan's inability to handle an oil spill of such proportions caused the oil to spread, making it the country's worst spill ever.

Deregulation of Japan's refining industry has caused instability and production shutdowns in the field. The eight major wholesalers reported a 59.9% drop in pretax profits from Apr 1, 1996, to Sep 30, 1996. These losses came despite an increase of sales of 8.2%. Low domestic prices, higher imported crude costs and depreciation of the Yen all contributed to the disappointing profit picture. Japan Energy Corp announced on Jan 17, 1997, that it plans to shut down crude processing at its Funagawa refinery.

General Sekiyu KK and Tonen Corp., Japanese refiners, have agreed to merge. The new company will be called Tonen General Sekiyu KK.

Indonesia's PT Arun will continue to supply LNG to Japanese power producers Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co., despite the political unrest in Aceh province, but two other Japanese companies will discontinue imports when their contracts expire on Dec 31, 1999.