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World Business Quick Take

■ Aviation
Work halted on freight A380
Financially troubled European airplane manufacturer Airbus has stopped work on the freight version of its new A380 superjumbo, a spokesman for its parent company said on Thursday. Michael Hauger, spokesman for the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co, said the freight version of the A380 remains an important part of its program, but that the company had decided to concentrate on the passenger version at the moment. "The work on the freight version of the A380 has just been temporarily cut off ... so that all capacities can be directed at the A380 passenger version," he said.

■ Energy
Solarworld buys US factory
Solarworld AG, Germany's second-largest solar-energy company, bought a factory in the US to produce solar-power equipment. The company bought the plant for US$39.6 million from Komatsu Group and plans to invest another US$395.2 million at the site, Bonn-based Solarworld said on Thursday in a statement distributed by DGAP newswire. The company expects the plant in Hillsboro, Oregon, to reach a production capacity of 500 megawatts by 2009. The factory will be the largest solar equipment plant in North America when it is completed, Solarworld said.

■ Automobiles
GM reports higher US sales
General Motors (GM) said on Thursday its vehicle sales last month rose 3.4 percent from the same month a year earlier, attributing the gain to improved showroom sales, especially of light trucks. The world's biggest automaker, which is vying to overhaul its North American operations in the face of fierce competition from Japanese rivals including Toyota, said it sold 311,463 vehicles last month. GM's sales gain also represented a rebound from January, when the US automaker's sales had plunged a hefty 19.7 percent.

■ Economy
Japan has zero inflation
Japan reported zero inflation yesterday for the first time for eight months, reinforcing expectations that interest rates are likely to stay low for some time. The figure matched average market forecasts for steady core consumer prices, after a tepid 0.1 percent year-on-year rise in December. The core consumer price index (CPI) for Tokyo alone -- the leading indicator for national price trends -- was unchanged last month from a year earlier, the ministry said in its preliminary report. Meanwhile average monthly household spending rose 0.6 percent in January from a year earlier, the ministry said.

■ Computers
Q4 profits plunge at Dell
Dell Inc, which is the subject of a US federal probe into its finances, said on Thursday that fourth-quarter profits plunged 33 percent due to weak sales of laptops and notebooks, which account for the lion's share of its revenues. Dell said it earned US$673 million, or US$0.30 per share in the quarter ended Feb. 2, compared to US$1.01 billion, or US$0.43 per share a year earlier. Revenue fell 4 percent, to US$14.4 billion. "We are systematically moving to increase efficiencies, improve execution and transform the company," chairman and chief executive officer Michael Dell said in a release. The latest results come as Dell tried to deal with a litany of issues including a still unresolved federal accounting probe, several shareholder lawsuits and loss of market share.

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