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World Business Quick Take

■ FINANCE

Fed warns of write-downs

US Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn warned on Tuesday that US banks will "likely" have to endure further write-downs from bad loans related to the housing slump and a widespread credit squeeze. Kohn said in remarks prepared for delivery to a congressional panel that the financial sector was facing ongoing difficulties. "Looking ahead, bank holding companies will continue to face challenging market conditions and persistent pressure on earnings. More asset write-downs are likely as the market continues to adjust risk premiums and valuations change," he said.



■ AVIATION

Toyota may join venture

Japan's top automaker Toyota Motor Corp said yesterday it had been asked to invest in a project to build the first "made in Japan" passenger aircraft in three decades. The Asahi Shimbun reported that Toyota plans to invest about ?10 billion (US$96.7 million) in the project by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said a decision had not yet been made. Mitsubishi said it was in talks with various firms, but declined to give their names. It said a company to run the project's business is scheduled to be set up this spring.



■ FINANCE

Seoul earmarks investment

South Korea's state-run National Pension Service (NPS) said yesterday it would buy into a fund that invests in US and European financial institutions amid the global credit crunch. NPS said it had earmarked US$300 million to invest in a US$7 billion private equity fund being raised by Texas Pacific Group (TPG). Other major investors include seven or eight global pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, NPS said in a statement. "The investment will help expand chances for NPS to buy stock in overseas financial institutions," it said. "TPG sees the global credit crunch caused by the US subprime housing loan crisis as a chance for increasing investment," it said.



■ CONSUMER

Nike, Apple team up

Nike and Apple are making the iPod compatible with gym equipment. The two companies said on Tuesday they were working with several gym equipment makers and the health clubs 24-Hour Fitness and Virgin Athletic Health Clubs to allow members to plug their iPod Nano into cardio equipment. The Nanos would track workouts, set goals and upload the information to a Nike Web site. The new technology is expected to hit more than 500 gyms worldwide this summer.



■ TECHNOLOGY

Greenpeace rates products

CeBIT, the world's biggest technology fair, talks green but the industry has some way to go in improving its environmental credentials, Greenpeace said yesterday. The environmental pressure group tested 37 products from 14 major electronics brands and awarded them points based on green criteria, including the substitution of hazardous substances, energy efficiency and recyclability. It said that Sony's Vaio TZ11 notebook, the Sony Ericsson T650i mobile phone and the Sony Ericsson P1i PDA came out on top in the survey, but these products scored just over half of the possible 100 points available, Greenpeace said. Others at the top of the study included Dell's Optiplex 755, Hewlett-Packard's dc5750 desktop computers and the Nokia N95 mobile phone.
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