Japan's listed firms hit by 71 pc profit slump
AFP, Tokyo
Japanese listed companies suffered a 71 percent fall in pre-tax profit in the three months to December due to shrinking demand and the yen's surge against the dollar, a newspaper survey showed Sunday.
The Nikkei survey of earnings reports from non-financial companies said export-dependent manufacturers such as autos and electricals were hardest hit
01 the 453 companies surveyed, 352 reported profit declines or losses in the quarter, the business daily said.
l or the full business year to March, their combined pre tax profit is estimated to decline 51 percent, in what would be the first drop in seven years.
One in four firms, however, projected growth for the year, Nikkei said.
"Companies are adjusting inventories at a rapid pace through decreases in production and are rapidly cutting costs," the daily said.
"There is the possibility of their competitiveness strengthening in the future if they go ahead with reforming their profit structure in the midst of die recession."
The combined pre-tax profit fell for the fourth straight quarter. The decline was far sharper than the 14-percent slide in the April-June period and the 31-percent fall in July-September.
Manufacturers suffered big losses in the October-December term, with sales falling 14 percent, compared with an eight-percent drop for all surveyed companies.
Europe struggles for unity in face of recession
AFP, Brussels
Despite promises to tackle recession togedier, EU governments are scrambling each in their own corner to come up with new measures to revive their economies, tlireat-ening the bloc's unity.
Since the start of the year, Germany has launched a new economic recovery plan, Britain unveiled a fresh rescue package for its banking sector and a number of countries are putting together plans to help their carmakers.
The hodge-podge of various measures contrasts with the spirit of unity that led EU leaders as recendy as December to agree on a 200-billion-euro stimulus plan to snap the European economy out of recession.
Although most of the package is made up of national measures, leaders made much of the fact that Europe's efforts to beat recession would be closely coordinated in order to reduce waste and avoid distortions to markets.
However, the new wave of government actions since then has left some worried that EU states risk causing more harm than good by failing to coordinate.
"I think we should improve the way we monitor the implementation of the recovery plan and the financial packages for the support of the financial sector," EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.
US banks sought foreign workers
AP, Santa Clara, Calif
Banks collecting billions of dollars in federal bailout money sought government permission to bring thousands of foreign workers to the U.S. for high-paying jobs, according to an Associated Press review ofvisa applications.
The dozen banks receiving the biggest rescue packages, totalling more than $150 billion, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years for positions that included senior vice presidents, corporate lawyers, junior investment analysts and human resources specialists. The average annual salary for those jobs was $90,721, nearly twice the median income for all American households.
The figures are significant because they show that the bailed-out banks, being kept afloat with U.S. taxpayer money, actively sought to hire foreign workers instead of American workers. As the economic collapse worsened last year - with huge numbers of bank employees laid off -the numbers of visas sought by the dozen banks in AP's analysis increased by nearly one-third, from 3,258 in fiscal 2007 to 4,163 in fiscal 2008.
'Superman' Brown falls to earth as recession hits Britain AFP, London
A blizzard of bankruptcies and job cuts has brought British Prime Minister Gordon Brown crashing back down in the opinion polls, after an initial ratings boost from his handling of the credit crunch.
As the crisis moves from headlines to the high street, wintry Britain is getting rapidly used to daily company closures and staff culls, while long booming house prices have plummeted even faster than the country's currency.
Brown claimed to have "saved the world" from economic meltdown in a slip of the tongue last month, while Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of his governing Labour Party, delightedly described him as "Superman".
This was at the height of the "Brown bounce", when Labour slashed the main opposition Conservatives' opinion poll lead thanks to the former finance minister's decisive leadership on the economic crisis.