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World Business Quick Take

■ TELECOMS
Google chief in S Korea
The chief of Google will visit South Korea this week to discuss business cooperation with local partners, officials said yesterday. Eric Schmidt is scheduled to hold separate talks today with Seok Jong-hun, president of South Korea's second-largest portal Daum Communications and with Kim Shin-bae, president of top local mobile carrier SK Telecom. Google started its Korean-language search site in 2000 but has struggled to boost its presence in the country. Nearly three-quarters of homes have high-speed Internet access but many prefer local services. It has forged ties to provide mobile phone services with Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics in addition to SK Telecom.

■ ENERGY
Gas reserves in Sichuan
China has discovered huge gas reserves in Sichuan Province, hoping that the find will help ease growing concerns about energy security, state media reported yesterday. A total of 3.8 trillion cubic meters of natural gas deposits have been found in the western part of the Sichuan Basin, the China Daily said, citing officials in Dazhou, near the reserve. The discovery is equivalent to about 60 years of China's total production at current output levels. The deposits include proven exploitable reserves of a newly discovered 244 billion cubic meters of gas alongside the 356 billion cubic meters in Puguang gas field, which was announced in March, the report said.

■ TAKEOVERS
Rio Tinto mulls Alcan bid
Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto PLC may be considering a US$27 billion-plus bid for Canada's Alcan Inc, an Australian newspaper reported. Rio Tinto has hired Deutsche Bank to advise it on a possible bid for Alcan, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, without citing sources. Alcan's board urged shareholders to reject a hostile US$27 billion cash-and-shares offer from US competitor Alcoa Inc on the grounds that it was too low and completion of the merger was too uncertain because of regulatory and other hurdles.

■ AVIATION
SAS meets to end strike
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)officials met with union representatives yesterday in a bid to end a cabin crew strike that has grounded hundreds of flights to and from Sweden since last week. The three-nation carrier's Swedish cabin crews went on strike on Friday after wage negotiations broke down, one month after a similar stoppage by Danish crews. The airline, also known as SAS, said the latest strike cost some 20 million kronor (US$3 million) a day in lost ticket sales. More than 275 flights were canceled yesterday, affecting about 20,000 passengers, as SAS officials met representatives from the Swedish Salaried Employees' Union in an effort to end the dispute.

■ ELECTRONICS
Sanyo's losses shrink 78%
Japan's Sanyo Electric Co said yesterday its net losses shrank almost 78 percent in the year to March, helped by cost cuts and forecast a return to profit this year. The struggling electronics manufacturer reported a third straight year in the red, hit by fierce price competition. Sanyo posted a net loss of ?45.36 billion (US$373.7 million) for the financial year to March, down from ?205.66 billion a year earlier. At the operating level, the company said it had swung to a profit of ?49.57 billion from a loss of ?17.15 billion.


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