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World Business Quick Take

■ ECONOMY

US growth for Q4 at 0.6%

The US economy almost stalled in the final quarter of last year with a growth rate of just 0.6 percent, its worst year since 2002. The US Commerce Department's report on the GDP, released yesterday, showed an economy that had deteriorated considerably during the October-to-December quarter as worsening problems in the housing market and harder-to-get credit made individuals and businesses more cautious in their spending. Fears of a recession have grown. For all of last year, the economy grew by just 2.2 percent, the weakest performance in five years, when the country was struggling to recover from the 2001 recession.



■ AUTOMOBILES

Honda profits surge

Japan's second-largest automaker, Honda Motor Co, said yesterday that its third-quarter net profit surged 38.1 percent to a record high helped by solid sales in fast-growing emerging economies. Honda hiked its full-year forecast amid brisk demand in Brazil, Russia, China and India, which drove up profits despite feeble domestic sales and recession fears in the US, the world's largest auto market. Net profit rose to ?200 billion (US$1.87 billion) in the three months to last month from ?144.8 billion a year earlier, the company said. Operating profit jumped 34.7 percent to ?276.2 billion, also a record for the third quarter.



■ ELECTRONICS

Canon earnings jump

Japanese electronics maker Canon Inc said yesterday it posted record earnings this year on the back of brisk digital camera sales, although its net profit was slightly below expectations. The maker of Ixy, Powershot and EOS brand digital cameras said its sales were boosted by the launch of new models and a bottoming out of the decline in camera prices. Canon said its net profit went up 7.2 percent year-on-year to ?488.33 billion (US$4.6 billion) last year. For this year, the company is forecasting another record-breaking year, projecting net profit of ?520 billion and revenue of ?4.72 trillion.



■ FINANCE

GIC offers another bailout

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), fresh from multibillion-dollar capital injections into troubled global financial institutions, has the capacity for an additional bailout, a report said yesterday. "We will look at any deal that is shown to us. We have a duty to do so. We would still have the capacity if we find it worthwhile to invest," The Business Times quoted GIC executive director Tony Tan as saying. Earlier this month GIC said it would invest US$6.88 billion in US banking giant Citigroup. GIC also said it would pump almost US$10 billion into Swiss bank UBS.



■ DEVELOPMENT

Vietnam approves mill

Vietnam has given the green light for South Korea's POSCO Group to build the country's largest steel mill, a project valued at US$3.5 billion in its initial stage, state media said yesterday. The hot-rolled steel mill is to be built near Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa Province, where People's Committee Chairman Vo Lam Phi said the national government approved its construction, the Vietnam News Agency said. POSCO, the world's third-largest steelmaker by output, and local ship builder Vinashin will build the mill at the Van Phong container port, a state-run paper said.
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