World Business Quick Take

■ PROPERTY

Russian bank invests in UK

Russia's second-largest bank is investing some US$260 million in a residential development project in London, the RBK business daily reported yesterday. Vneshtorgbank is investing in "the purchase and construction of a residential complex" in Hammersmith in west London, the company's legal consultants, Dewey and LeBoeuf, were quoted as saying in a report. The state-controlled bank held an initial public offering earlier this year that raised US$8 billion.



■ BANKING

Ownership caps unchanged

A Chinese regulator says Beijing is unlikely to decide on a US request to raise limits on foreign ownership in banks and securities companies before its legislature meets in March, a news report said yesterday. Raising foreign ownership caps would require a change in Chinese law, Dow Jones Newswires quoted Cai Esheng (蔡鄂生), vice chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, as saying at a financial conference in Beijing. Washington is lobbying Beijing to ease restrictions that limit total foreign ownership of a Chinese bank to 25 percent.



■ MEDIA

LVMH buys newspaper

French luxury goods company LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA said on Monday it had concluded a deal with Britain-based media group Pearson PLC to buy France's leading financial newspaper Les Echos. In a statement, LVMH also said it has signed a deal for the sale of France's other chief financial daily, La Tribune, to businessman Alain Weill. The financial details of the LVMH-Pearson deal for Groupe Les Echos were not given, but news reports have said it could generate around 200 million euros (US$287 million).



■ ENERGY

Three Gorges output up

China's electricity output at the world's biggest hydropower project rose by about 25 percent this year after new generators were installed. The Three Gorges station has generated 60.86 million megawatt-hours of electricity so far this year with output until the end of the year expected to reach 61.6 million megawatt-hours, the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. China added 5,000 megawatts of new capacity at Three Gorges this year, bringing the total capacity to 14,800 megawatts, the commission said. Water flow at the power station had increased 36.4 percent by Dec. 23 compared with last year, it said.



■ ELECTRONICS

Sanyo may be delisted

Sanyo Electric Co, the Japanese electronics maker that has not turned a profit for three years, may have its shares removed from the Tokyo Stock Exchange after the company misstated six years of financial results. The shares are on watch for possible delisting, the exchange said on its Web site after Osaka-based Sanyo disclosed yesterday it understated losses from April 2000 to March of last year. Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommended Sanyo be fined ¥8.3 million (US$72,650). Sanyo, the world's largest maker of rechargeable batteries, will cut salaries for executives including the president and cancel retirement pay for board members for their failure to prevent the misstatements. The company erroneously paid dividends because of the errors, it said.