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World Business Quick Take

■ DVD Recorders
Victor to stop production
Victor Co, a Japanese audiovisual equipment maker, will stop producing low-priced DVD recorders at its own plants, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. Competition in the DVD recorder market is intensifying prompting price cuts which are hurting profits, the paper said. The company plans to shift resources, such as DVD recorder production facilities, to the large-scale rear projection television business which is more profitable, the paper reported.

■ Candy
Wrigley's outlook improves
Wm Wrigley Jr Co, the world's largest chewing gum maker, is poised to continue improving its sales by expanding overseas and adding product lines, Barron's reported. Wrigley, based in Chicago, improved its prospects for overseas growth with the purchase of candy businesses from Agrolimen's Joyco Group of Spain, which is the market leader in India and China, and has a strong position in some European countries, Barron's said. Domestically, chief executive Bill Wrigley's US$1.5 billion purchase of the Life Savers and Altoids brands from Kraft Foods Inc may add US$400 million in annual sales, Barron's reported, without citing anyone.

■ Tourism
HK Disneyland OKs smoking
Hong Kong Disneyland will allow smoking in designated areas and all but one of the restaurants in its two hotels, a spokeswoman said yesterday, a move condemned by a local lawmaker who represents the medical sector. The US$3 billion theme park, due to open on Sept. 12, will ban smoking in the restaurant that features Disney characters, but allow guests to light up in designated smoking areas in the hotels' other restaurants and in specified outdoor areas, Hong Kong Disneyland spokeswoman Esther Wong said. "They [the smoking areas] won't be very big," Wong said.

■ Auto Industry
Nissan gains in Middle East
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co increased its sales in the Middle East by 18 percent last year, due to the introduction of new models in the region, president of Nissan and Renault Carlos Ghosn said on Saturday. "During the past 18 months, Nissan introduced 10 new models of the luxurious Infinity and four-wheel-drives. This reflected in [better] sales," he said during the inauguration of Nissan's world-largest showroom in Muscat. The three-storey showroom, which took eight months to construct with a total cost of US$50 million, can accommodate 70 cars in each floor. .

■ Transportation
UK plans to charge drivers
The UK government plans to replace fuel tax with a road charge based on the time of day and distance traveled by drivers, the London-based Sunday Times reported, citing Transport Secretary Alistair Darling. The change is necessary to prevent British roads reaching "complete gridlock," the newspaper cited Darling as saying. The minister told the Times he wants a pilot plan approved during the ruling Labour Party's current term in office. While drivers would no longer have to pay tax on fuel that stands at about 47 pence (US$0.85) per liter of petrol, they may pay as much as ?1.34 a mile on the most expensive journeys under the proposed plan, the Sunday Times said.

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