■ Fraud
`Shadow fixer' faints in court
A Japanese court yesterday handed six more years in prison to Ho Yong-chung, the culprit of one of the most notorious fraud cases during the "bubble economy," who collapsed on hearing the latest verdict. Ho, a 58-year-old Korean-Japanese, is already serving a separate seven-and-a-half-year term, was convicted of swindling promissory notes worth ¥17.9 billion (US$152 million) out of Tokyo-based trading firm Ishibashi Sangyo in 1996. Listening to the ruling, Ho drank water repeatedly and wiped sweat off his forehead before passing out on the defendant's seat, Jiji Press said. Ho also collapsed during a lower court hearing, the news agency said. Ho, nicknamed the "shadow fixer," is best known for the Itoman case from the early 1990s. He allegedly manipulated the management of the trading firm Itoman in the early 1990s to make it invest hundreds of billions of yen into trading art and developing golf courses. The Supreme Court sentenced him to seven years and six months in prison and a ¥500 million fine last October. In yesterday's ruling, presiding Judge Kenjiro Tao sentenced Ho to a further six years in prison, saying it was clear Ho "swindled the corporate bills."
■ Electronics
Toshiba profits shoot up
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba said yesterday its net profits had grown more than 13 times year-on-year in the third quarter to December as all segments of its business sharply improved. Net profit shot up to ¥21.9 billion (US$186.5 million) in the quarter from ¥1.6 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Operating profit soared to ¥63.7 billion from ¥900 million previously. "Toshiba group's businesses in the 2005 fiscal year to date are moving more strongly than originally anticipated on robust performances in electronic devices, particularly memories in the semiconductor business, and in social infrastructure, including the medical systems business," a statement said. The results followed an upbeat earnings report by rival Sony, which said last week it no longer anticipated losses for the year.
■ Photography
Fuji Photo to cut 5,000 jobs
Japan's Fuji Photo Film yesterday announced it will slash 5,000 jobs worldwide as part of structural reforms to keep profitable in the competitive business. The world's No. 2 photographic film maker will cut 1,000 jobs in Japan with the remaining 4,000 abroad by September, a company spokesman said. Fuji Film said the move was part of a reform plan to stay afloat. "The structural reforms include the reduction of approximately 5,000 people from the imaging solutions segment," which includes film production, a company statement said.
■ Telecoms
NTT DoCoMo profits drop
Japan's top mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo said yesterday its profits fell in the nine months to December in part due to falling handset sales. Net profit for the period slipped 31.7 percent to ¥516.4 billion (US$4.4 billion) year-on-year. Pretax profit eased 35.1 percent to ¥811.2 billion, on sales of ¥3.58 trillion, down 1.7 percent. The company said its revenue from mobile handset sales fell 13.6 percent year-on-year to ¥353.2 billion. The latest pretax profit fell because of larger gains seen a year ago, it added. Pretax profit also fell as NTT DoCoMo had gained more last year on selling shares of AT&T Wireless Service than its gains in the current period on sales of shares of Hutchison 3G UN Holdings and KPN Mobile NV.
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