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■ Credit ratings
Asian gains could slow
Asian sovereign credit ratings, which have had only upgrades for a second consecutive year, may see a lower amount of gains next year, Fitch Ratings said. Fitch raised four sovereign ratings in Asia this year, and higher rankings have outnumbered downgrades in three of the past four years, the company said. The risk of higher oil prices, a slowdown in US growth, a "hard landing" in China and gains in interest rates may hurt Asian growth, it said in a statement today. "Alone, none of these shocks would likely be sufficient to affect Asian sovereign ratings, but a combination could stress countries' creditworthiness," the statement said. "Asian sovereigns are well positioned to absorb most conceivable shocks that might arise in the year ahead," it said.

■ Banking
Cosmos stake sold in stages
General Electric Co plans to buy 49 percent of Cosmos Bank (萬泰銀行) in three stages, with details to be decided later, the Chinese-language Apple Daily News reported, without saying where it obtained the information. GE may first buy NT$7 billion (US$211 million) worth of convertible bonds, which may later be turned into a 25 percent stake in Cosmos, the report said. Cosmos may than issue about NT$3 billion worth of new shares to GE to boost its stake in the Taiwanese lender to more than 30 percent, the Taipei-based newspaper said. Following the first two steps, GE may make a tender offer to raise its stake in Cosmos to 49 percent, the report said. Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, the world's biggest maker of power-plant equipment, plans to buy the Cosmos Bank stake through its affiliate GE Capital Taiwan Holdings Inc, according to a statement issued by the Fair Trade Commission in July.

■ Automakers
DaimlerChrysler okays cuts
DaimlerChrysler's supervisory board approved a cost-cutting plan in a close vote on Friday that will eliminate at least 8,500 jobs at Mercedes-Benz factories in Germany by 2008. Though the far-reaching plan was approved, eight of the 10 employee representatives on the 20-member board voted against it. They said it relied too heavily on job losses, even if the reductions will be achieved through voluntary buyouts. The split vote, while not unheard of, suggests that relations between DaimlerChrysler and its workers are becoming frayed, as the company's incoming chief executive, Dieter Zetsche, moves to reduce its labor costs.

■ Automakers
Toyota sales likely to fall
Toyota Motor Corp's car sales in Japan are likely to fall by 20,000 vehicles this year to 1.74 million -- the company's first decline in domestic sales in three years -- as competition rises from lower-priced cars, a report said yesterday. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Japan's largest automaker, which holds about 40 percent of the Japanese auto market, had initially projected domestic sales of 1.8 million cars this year. Toyota is likely to miss that target as demand for major models, including its mainstay Corolla compact, has been hurt by competition from lower-priced cars such as mini-vehicles and used cars, resulting in its first domestic sales decline in three years, it said. Toyota officials were not available for comment yesterday. Toyota did not introduce any new models in Japan between April and September, which also contributed to the weaker sales, the newspaper said.

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