Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. said Friday it has revised up its group earnings estimates for fiscal 2008 on the back of its robust bulk carrier operations. The major shipping company raised the net profit estimate for the year ending in
Japanese chemical maker are scaling down their production as their profitability has been falling rapidly due to faster-than-expected rises in the prices of naphtha, a basic material for petrochemical products. Industry leader Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. has decided to postpone the
Yahoo Japan Corp. President Masahiro Inoue said Friday that if Yahoo Inc. of the United States sells its Yahoo Japan shareholdings, Softbank Corp. would likely consider taking them over. Softbank, a Japanese Internet and telecommunications service firm, has preferential rights
Japanese restaurant chain sales fell 1.2 pct in the first half of this year from a year before on a same-store basis, industry data showed Friday. The fall was due mainly to soaring gasoline and food prices, which caused consumer
Stocks fell back on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Friday, as U.S. equities' overnight pullback and the yen's appreciation led players to cash in recent gains. Snapping a three-day surge, the 225-issue Nikkei average closed down 268.55 points, or 2.0 pct,
Foreign investors remained net sellers of Japanese stocks for the fourth straight week last week, the Tokyo Stock Exchange said Friday. In the July 14-18 week, nonresidents posted net selling of 178,061 million yen, against the prior week's selling excess
Tokyo stocks next week are expected to extend this week's rally, as investors set aside worries about U.S. housing problems at least for the time being to focus on Japanese companies' quarterly earnings. "The sense of crisis that dominated the
Honda Motor Co. on Friday reported earnings growth for April-June, weathering the negative effects of the yen's rise against the dollar and higher materials prices. Consolidated net profit rose 8.1 pct from a year before to 179,611 million yen, a
Advantest Corp. said Friday that it expects to report a group net loss of 2.5 billion yen for the April-September first half of fiscal 2008, against the year-before net profit of 16,930 million yen. The loss will be the chipmaking
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday that the peak power demand in the company's service area topped 60 million kilowatts for the first time this summer the same day. The surge apparently reflected growing power consumption for air conditioning amid
Stocks ceded ground on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Friday morning, as U.S. equities' overnight pullback led players to cash in recent gains. At the morning close, the 225-issue Nikkei average stood down 209.50 points, or 1.5 pct, at 13,393.81. On
