Tag: company

Nintendo first-quarter profits up 44 pct to $275 mn on Switch sales

TOKYO, Japan (AFP)–Nintendo said Tuesday its quarterly net profit jumped 43.9 percent year-on-year to $275 million, driven by the global popularity of its Switch console and game titles. The Kyoto-based game giant reported net profit for the three months to June of 30.6 billion yen ($275 million), with operating profit soaring 88.4 percent to 30.5 billion yen. It said sales were up 9.1 percent to 168.16 billion yen, and it  expects strong demand for the […]

End of the line for ASIMO, Japan’s famed robot?

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – It has played football with former US president Barack Obama and danced for German leader Angela Merkel, but Honda’s ASIMO robot may have reached the end of the line. Launched in 2000, the humanoid machine resembling a shrunken spaceman has become arguably Japan’s most famous robot, wheeled out to impress visiting politicians over the years. But Honda said Thursday it may scrap future generations of ASIMO, now on its seventh […]

Taiwan’s HTC to get Google boost as it posts biggest loss

  TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan’s struggling smartphone maker HTC posted its worst-ever quarterly loss on Monday, but said it expects a boost from the $1.1 billion deal with Google sealed earlier this year. The deal, completed in January, saw Google buy part of HTC’s smartphone business as the US giant looks to take greater control of its hardware business. HTC has suffered consecutive losses due to stiff competition in the smartphone sector from Apple, […]

Weinstein Company will file for bankruptcy: media

  LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The Weinstein Company will file for bankruptcy, US media reported on Sunday, after prosecutors sought to impose conditions on a sale of the firm co-founded by disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. The company has been in freefall since accusations of sexual harassment, assault and rape began emerging in October against Weinstein, who steered numerous films to Academy Awards glory including “The Artist,” “The King’s Speech” and “The Iron […]

Toyota forecasts record net profit for full fiscal year

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese car giant Toyota on Tuesday forecast a record full-year net profit, as the figure jumped more than 40 percent for the nine months to December. Boosted by robust global sales and a weak yen, Japan’s top carmaker expects to bank net profit of 2.4 trillion yen ($22 billion) for the fiscal year to March 2018, up from its earlier estimate of 1.95 trillion yen. Annual sales are now forecast at 29 trillion […]

UK construction firm Carillion liquidates business

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British construction and outsourcing services group Carillion announced its immediate liquidation Monday after the heavily-indebted company failed to secure a financial rescue from the UK government and banks. Carillion, which employs 43,000 staff worldwide including 19,500 in Britain, said that the government would nevertheless provide some funding to allow current state projects to continue, following crunch talks over the weekend. “This is a very sad day for Carillion, for our […]

Lafarge offices searched over Syria business links

PARIS, France (AFP) — French investigators searched the offices of French-Swiss cement maker Lafarge Tuesday, the company said, as part of an enquiry into financial links to jihadist groups in Syria, including Islamic State. “French investigators are in the process of investigating our offices,” a Lafarge spokeswoman told AFP, confirming a report to that effect by France Inter radio. “We are cooperating fully with investigators, but we cannot make any further comment on this ongoing inquiry,” she […]

Toshiba sells TV business to China’s Hisense

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Struggling Japanese conglomerate Toshiba said Tuesday it has decided to sell its television business to China’s Hisense Group as part of its efforts to restore its balance sheet. Toshiba agreed with the Chinese group to sell 95 percent in shares of its unit Toshiba Visual Solutions (TVS) for about 12.9 billion yen ($114 million), it said in a statement. “Toshiba has been considering structural reforms that will … strengthen Toshiba’s financial base,” the […]

Toshiba boss sorry as shareholders blast $18 bn chip sale

by Kyoko Hasegawa  Agence France-Presse CHIBA, Japan (AFP) — Toshiba’s president Tuesday apologized “sincerely” over the $18-billion sale of its prized memory chip business, as shareholders demanded answers over the deal seen as pivotal to the survival of one of Japan’s best-known firms. Bowing deeply at the start of a tense shareholders’ meeting, Satoshi Tsunakawa said: “We sincerely apologise for causing problems and worry.” More than 600 investors poured into the meeting as they voted in favour […]

Uniqlo operator says annual profit soars to record

 TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Uniqlo’s parent company said Thursday that its annual net profit more than doubled from a year ago to a record thanks to strong sales and as a cheaper yen inflated profits. Fast Retailing’s net profit came in at 119 billion yen ($1 billion) in the fiscal year through August, with revenue up 4.2 percent at 1.86 trillion yen, it said. Asia’s biggest retailer — a rival of Zara, Gap and H&M — said sales […]

Twitter dives, growth stall highlights contrast with Facebook

by Glenn Chapman with Rob Lever in Washington Agence France Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Twitter shares were hammered Thursday after the company reported no gain in its user base in the past quarter, raising fresh fears about the future of the service as it loses more ground to Facebook. Twitter, which has been struggling to keep pace in the fast-moving world of social media, reported a net loss of $116 million in […]

Swiss chemical maker Clariant to merge with US Huntsman

  ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) – Swiss group Clariant on Monday said it planned to merge with US counterpart Huntsman to create a trans-Atlantic chemicals giant with a combined value of around $20 billion. The all-stock transaction — which Clariant said would be a “merger of equals” — was agreed by the boards of both companies. The combined entity would be called HuntsmanClariant, the Swiss group said in a statement. Clariant CEO Hariolf Kottmann described the […]