■Record labels
EMI reports first-half profit
EMI Group Plc, the world's third-largest recorded music company, reported a fiscal first-half profit, helped by job cuts and a gain on asset sales. Net income in the six months ended Sept. 30 was ?138.4 million (US$219 million), EMI said in a PR Newswire statement. Revenue fell 9.9 percent to ?961.5 million. Sales at the recorded-music unit, the company's largest, will fall in the year ending March, it said. In May, EMI forecast revenue would be about unchanged at the division. First-half revenue at the unit slumped 12 percent to ?759.3 million.
■ Test equipment
Agilent has loss in Q4
Agilent Technologies Inc. had a fourth-quarter loss on higher costs and plans to cut as many as 2,500 jobs. The testing equipment-maker's shares surged as sales rose for the first time in six quarters. The net loss in the quarter ended Oct. 31 was US$236 million, or 51 cents a share, partly on severance costs, compared with net income of US$197 million, or US$0.43, a year ago, Agilent said in a statement. Sales rose 8.1 percent to US$1.74 billion from US$1.61 billion. Agilent has been paring expenses over the past year as sales tumbled partly because of slack demand for gear used to test telecommunications equipment. The job cuts, which represent as much as 6.9 percent of Agilent's workforce, are in addition to 8,000 eliminated positions announced last year.
■ World markets
Vietnam still restrictive
The US says Vietnam's economy remains too much under government control, a finding that may hinder efforts by companies such as Citigroup, Unilever and New York Life to expand business in the 13th most populous nation. The Commerce Department's finding hands a victory to US catfish farmers. Their dumping complaint led Vietnam to make its failed attempt to seek designation as a so-called market economy and avoid the highest possible tariffs when that case is decided. Many US corporations took Vietnam's side, since a market economy finding may ease Vietnam's entry into the WTO, further eliminating market barriers after a US-Vietnam trade agreement in July 2000 opened the door a crack. "We are disappointed that this has been the outcome of the ruling," said Virginia Foote, president of the US-Vietnam Business Council, whose members include Boeing Co, Nike Inc and Motorola Inc. "The effect could be fairly serious for Vietnam's catfish farmers."
■ Inventions
Human transporter on sale
A "human transporter" unveiled with great fanfare a year ago by inventor Dean Kamen went on sale to the public Monday through online retailer Amazon.com The two-wheeled, self-balancing Segway Human Transporter -- with the appearance of a T-shaped scooter -- has been touted as a revolutionary urban transport vehicle, using a system of coordinating gyroscopes, computers and electric motor. The cost was set at US$4,950. Deliveries are set for March. The device was unveiled last December, but had not been on sale to the public. The US postal service and some public safety officials signed contracts for the devices.
The Segway attains speeds of about 19kph. "Since the Segway HT was introduced nearly a year ago, tens of thousands of people have asked how they can get one," said Dean Kamen, the inventor who is chairman of Segway LLC.
Agencies
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