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World Business Quick Take

Geek Squad agent Cyrus Tavadia, second right, demonstrates wireless technology to Star Wars fans dressed as Stormtrooper characters on Wednesday in New York. The Geek Squad, a 24-hour computer support company, is working to help keep fans in touch with co-workers and family during their three-week wait outside the Ziegfeld Theater, ahead of the Star Wars premiere next Thursday. PHOTO: REUTERS

■ Telecoms
DoCoMo raises forecast
NTT DoCoMo Inc, the world's second-largest mobile-phone operator, raised its full-year profit forecast 7.2 percent because the company will book gains from selling shares of Hutchison 3G UK Holdings Ltd. DoCoMo expects profit of ¥533 billion (US$5.02 billion) for the year ending March 31, 2006, compared with the ¥497 billion it forecast two days ago when it reported full-year earnings, the Tokyo-based company said yesterday in a statement. DoCoMo posted ¥747.6 billion profit the previous business year. The sales forecast of ¥4.81 trillion was kept unchanged, as was the operating profit forecast of ¥810 billion. Operating profit is sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses.

■ Investment
Japan's firms avoid China
One out of three Japanese firms with plans to start businesses in China said they have decided to postpone their plans following recent anti-Japanese sentiment resulting in renewed protests in China, a Japanese research firm said yesterday. According to Teikoku Databank, 275 among the 848 firms which had planned to start their businesses in China, said they have decided to put off their plans for the time being. Seven others said they have decided to call off their plans completely. China has been a popular place to invest for Japanese businesses in recent years, thanks to cheaper labour costs and the growing economy there. But antagonistic emotions have been evoked among many Japanese after television footage showed Chinese protesters throwing stones and bottles at Japanese businesses.

■ China's economy
Foreign investment slows
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China rose just 2.2 percent in the first four months of the year, the ministry of commerce said yesterday. Total actual investment by foreign enterprises in the period from January to April reached US$17.5 billion, the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site. Contracted investment, which gives an indication of future inflows, grew 8 percent to US$50.2 billion in the first four months, according to the ministry. The top two sources of investment during the four-month period were Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands, legal home to many companies and offshore investment houses, the ministry said. Economists have speculated that investment from these two sources in particular could be Chinese money re-entering the mainland to take advantage of preferential treatment for foreign investors.

■ Retail
KarstadtQuelle woes worsen
KarstadtQuelle, the troubled German department store chain, yesterday said it slipped deeper into the red in the first quarter, pulled down by persistently sluggish consumer demand and the cost of a huge restructuring program. KarstadtQuelle said in a statement that it booked a net loss of 111.3 million euros (US$142 million) in the period from January to March, compared with a loss of 110.3 million euros a year earlier. Underlying profits, as measured by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, also declined to 56.6 million euros in the January-to-March period from 90 million euros in the first quarter of last year. Sales were down 8.4 percent at 2.97 billion euros as a result of "the consistently difficult retail environment in Germany," KarstadtQuelle said.

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