Entertainment
Charter Hall Retail buys 8 shopping centres from Woolworths
Charter Hall Retail REIT (REIT) has bought eight neighbourhood and sub-regional shopping centres for AUD266 million (USD281.8m) from Woolworths, in joint venture with Telstra Super, one of Australia's largest superannuation funds.
The acquisition is consistent with the REIT's strategy of reweighting to Australia, enhancing income security and growth through investing in quality grocery anchored neighbourhood and sub-regional shopping centres.
LVMH profits rise as Asian demand continues
Profits at LVMH for last year have beaten forecasts, with world's largest luxury goods group saying the outlook for 2012 was "excellent".
Net profits rose 1 percent to EUR3.06 billion (USD4.02b) but were up 34 percent if a one-off financial gain from LVMH's shares in Hermes in 2010 was excluded.
Sales rose 16 percent to EUR23.6b on Asian growth and at the Louis Vuitton unit.
Panasonic yearly net loss to top USD9b
Japanese electronics maker Panasonic is likely to suffer a net loss of more than JPY700 billion (USD9.2b) for the year to March, much bigger than it has forecast, hurt by losses from acquiring Sanyo Electric and a slowdown in global demand, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Friday.
Panasonic, which is due to announce its latest quarterly results and forecasts later in the day, issued a statement saying the report was not based on any announcement it had made.
S Korea Jan exports post shock drop
South Korean exports fell 6.6 percent in January from a year earlier, compared with the median forecast for a small rise in a Reuters poll and weaker than the worst forecast, as the euro zone crisis hit the global economy.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected January exports to rise 0.7 percent over a year earlier and imports to increase 4.8 percent.
January exports were weaker than the worst forecast from the Reuters survey of 11 analysts and the first annual decline that South Korea posted since October 2009.
LCD TV area demand to reach 85 million square metres in 2012, says DisplaySearch
The LCD TV market saw a rapid shift toward sizes larger than 40-inch at the end of 2011, as consumers, particularly in North America and China, took advantage of new sizes and more affordable prices, according to DisplaySearch. As larger sizes such as 46-, 47-, 55-, 60- and 65-inch are being adopted by consumers, panel makers are also developing other new large size TV panels, including 43-, 48-, 50-, 70-, and even 75-, 80-inch and larger.
Cushman & Wakefield HK and Asia-Pacific property market forecast: A downward trend except for prime retail
Cushman & Wakefield, the world's largest privately owned real estate services firm, on Monday announced its forecast for the Hong Kong and Asia-Pacific property markets, which covers the commercial leasing, investment and residential markets.
Decline in leasing of Grade A office space expected, rents to drop by 5 percent to 15 percent
Nintendo's profit drops; sees first annual loss
Nintendo posted a sharp drop in quarterly profit and forecast a bigger-than-expected full-year loss, its first at an operating level, as it battles a strong yen and its games devices lose ground to gadgets such as Apple's iPhone.
The creator of the Super Mario franchise dominated the video games industry for years with its DS handheld players and Wii home consoles, but is now struggling to keep up as more versatile smartphone and tablet sales boom.
Bunnings worker loses appeal after shoot jibe in Australia
An employee of Australia's hardware giant Bunnings who allegedly threatened to shoot everyone in the store while impersonating cowboy actor John Wayne has lost his unfair dismissal claim.
Bunnings has also banned the former Cairns employee from all its stores in Australia and police have suspended his weapons licence.
P&G Announces Business Results for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2011-12
Today, P&G
announced results for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2011 – the
second quarter of the Company’s 2012 fiscal year. You can read the full details in today’s news release and listen to the webcast replay of earnings results at www.pg.com/investors.
Sony, Panasonic brace for grim earnings season
Sony and rival Panasonic are set to report a slump in quarterly earnings and may cut full-year forecasts after being hit by yen strength, Thai floods and consumer gloom in Europe during the vital pre-Christmas period.
Both companies saw their debt ratings downgraded by Moody's Investor Services last week, as their TV divisions continue to bleed red ink despite restructuring efforts.
