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World Business Quick Take

■ SEMICONDUCTORS
Hynix's Q3 profits fall 57%
Hynix Semiconductor failed to meet expectations yesterday, posting a 57 percent slump in quarterly net profits amid falling chip prices due to product gluts and higher debt costs. Net profit fell to 170 billion won (US$185 million) in the third quarter to September from a year earlier, the world's second-largest memory chipmaker said, despite an overall increase in sales. "The market was tough. The third-quarter results were not up to market expectations and our own target," Hynix vice president James Kim said in a conference call with analysts and investors. Sales increased 24 percent year-on-year to 2.44 trillion won during the period thanks to strong seasonal demand, but operating profit fell 44 percent to 254 billion won, it said.

■ AUTOMOBILES
Honda may trim forecast
Honda may trim its Japan sales forecast for this year, a company executive said yesterday, the latest sign of a stagnant home market for the world's most profitable automakers. Honda Motor Co vice president Koichi Kondo told reporters it was "likely" the forecast for Japan sales will be reduced from the current projection for 660,000 vehicles -- which already represents a 1.8 percent drop from the previous year. Last week, Toyota Motor Corp lowered its Japan sales forecast for this year, while maintaining its overall global sales target. Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe said that overseas sales, including regions such as the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Russia, will make up for the expected drop in Japan sales.

■ CHINA
Union push will continue
China promised yesterday no let-up in its drive to force foreign-invested enterprises to create state-controlled unions and said it would not be deterred by reluctant company bosses. Sun Chunlan, a vice-chairwoman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, said the group's target was to have branches in 70 percent of foreign enterprises by next autumn, more than double last year's rate. "Some foreign-invested enterprises still lack understanding and knowledge of China's trade unions and they don't want to unionize," Sun told reporters on the sidelines of the Chinese Communist Party's National Congress. "But investing companies must respect the laws of the countries they are investing in. Our country's clear regulations state that workers have the right, according to law, to enter the union," she said.

■ FOOD
Raw materials cost Nestle
The Swiss food group Nestle said yesterday that growing raw material costs were having an impact on its growth, as it posted a 9 percent increase in sales over the first nine months of the year. Nestle said that "input cost pressures were increasing over the second half of the year" and having a "dampening effect" on real internal growth. Its sales over the first nine months of the year reached 78.7 billion Swiss francs (US$467 billion), exceeding analysts' expectations. It did not release third quarter data.

■ DEFENSE
Eurocopter, KAI ink deal
Eurocopter, part of EADS, said yesterday it had signed a deal in Seoul to create a joint venture firm with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to sell South Korea's new military helicopter. Eurocopter said in a statement that it would own 49 percent of the venture, while KAI would control the remaining 51 percent.


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