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World Business Quick Take

■ Retail
Wal-Mart sales on track
Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, said that sales this month at its US stores open at least a year are rising within its forecast range as general merchandise led the week's gains. The company forecast a sales gain of 2 percent to 4 percent this month after a 2.5 percent increase last month. Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, updated results through Friday in a recorded call yesterday. Sales of general merchandise outpaced food for the third consecutive week after lagging behind most of the year. Warmer weather helped, said Michael Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers, which tracks sales at about 75 US chains. "With the hot weather driving demand for seasonal goods, we have seen sales increase," he said.

■ Charity
Buffett lunch attracts bids
Warren Buffett attracted bids that reached US$250,100 yesterday in the third day of a weeklong charity auction that raised more than US$202,100 last year. The auction on EBay Inc's Web site for a chance to meet and dine with Buffett, the world's second-richest person and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, is on track to exceed the most paid for the lunch auction, now in its sixth year. That was a US$250,100 bid won by Greenlight Capital LLC founder David Einhorn two years ago. Winners have had to pay at least US$200,000 for the lunch for eight since the auction was moved from a gala event in San Francisco to EBay's site three years ago. Proceeds from the auction go to Glide Memorial Church, a San Francisco-based non-profit with programs for the poor and homeless.

■ Aviation
Qantas mulling alliance
Australian flag carrier Qantas likely will form some kind of alliance with another airline in the future, Chief Executive Officer Geoff Dixon said yesterday. "I think that we will be in some association with another carrier," he told Australian television's Nine Network. "I think that will become necessary." Dixon declined to identify a likely partner and said the Qantas brand name would remain even if it ties up with another carrier. "I've always said I believe Singapore Airlines are a wonderful carrier, have a tremendous brand, tremendous track record," Dixon said, responding to recent speculation about a possible merger between Qantas Airways Ltd. and its Singapore rival. "Yes, they would be a lovely partner but so would British Airways, so would Cathay Pacific, so would a lot of carriers out there," he added. "So would Air New Zealand."

■ Automotive
Nissan, Toyota renovate
Japanese auto giants Nissan Motor and Toyota Motor will make major investments to improve their sales network in the US, a news report said yesterday. Nissan Motor plans to spend roughly US$4 billion to renovate 1,200 local dealerships in the US market, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. Having already renovated about 250 dealerships, Nissan would renovate another 800 outlets by 2007, the newspaper said. Separately, the work for 177 Infinity outlets for upscale Nissan vehicles began this month and would be completed next year, the Nihon Keizai said. Meanwhile, Japanese industry leader Toyota would spend more than ?200 billion (US$1.8 billion) in the next two years to revamp about 1,400 dealerships, the newspaper said. The plans follow steady production increases in North America.

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