Fast Retailing eyes expanded business with Toray

July 20 (Reuters) – Japan’s Fast Retailing (9983.T), operator of the Uniqlo budget clothing chain, said on Tuesday it expects business with textile maker Toray Industries (3402.T) to total 400 billion yen ($4.6 billion) in the five years to 2015.

The two companies said in a statement did they did business worth 240 billion yen in the five years through 2009.

Toray currently supplies textiles to Uniqlo, including the material for hit products such as heat-trapping garments. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka)

UPDATE 1-Interquest sees H1 fee income up

July 14 (Reuters) – British IT staffing company Interquest Group Plc (ITQ.L) forecast first-half net fee income rising by 14 percent, helped by growth in the private sector that offset relatively weaker demand from the public sector.

The company said it had seen strong trading in the first six months to end-June, with increased demand in both permanent and contract recruitment.

“We believe that with activity levels returning and the enlargement of the group, we are in a strong position as we head into the second half of the year,” Executive Chairman Gary Ashworth said in a statement.

Jobs in Britain’s public sector are set to contract following the government’s budget which announced spending cuts of 6.2 billion pounds ($9.41 billion) in the 2010-2011 financial year. [ID:nLDE65M0VY]

Shares in Interquest closed at 58.5 pence on Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange. ($1=.6588 Pound) (Reporting by Aditi Samajpati in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)

Japan Noda: need to carefully prepare next FY budget

July 12 (Reuters) – Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Monday the government would have to carefully prepare the budget for next fiscal year, after the ruling Democratic Party and its coalition partner were denied a majority in an upper house election the previous day.

Noda, speaking to reporters, also said the election would lead to the beginning of multiparty debate on reforming the tax code, including the sales tax.

Voters dealt the Democrats a stinging rebuke in the upper house election on Sunday, depriving it and its tiny ally of a majority less than a year after the Democrats swept to power with promises of change. (Reporting by Stanley White)

UPDATE 1-Fast Retailing, DNP Hldgs set up Malaysia venture

June 29 (Reuters) – Japan’s Fast Retailing Co (9983.T), the operator of Uniqlo casual wear shops, said on Tuesday it has set up a joint venture with a unit of DNP Holdings (DPBM.KL) to open stores in Malaysia.

The company, which competes with Gap (GPS.N) and H&M (HMb.ST) in the budget apparel sector, has been aggressively expanding in Asian markets to feed its growth.

The Uniqlo chain has about 800 stores in Japan and runs 60 in China and 50 in South Korea.

The company said it plans to open its first store in Malaysia by the end of this year.

“We have positioned Asia as a strategic region and we think Malaysia has a very good business potential,” said Uniqlo spokesman Daisuke Hase.

Fast Retailing said it would hold a 55 percent stake in the joint venture with DNP Clothing, a wholly owned unit of DNP Holdings. (Reporting by Sachi Izumi and Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Michael Watson)

UPDATE 1-Sawai: to mull capital tie-up with bigger drugmaker

June 29 (Reuters) – Sawai Pharmaceutical (4555.T), Japan’s No.1 generic drug maker, said it will need to consider a capital tie-up with a bigger drugmaker in the future as it will need a larger budget for product development.

Stocks | Healthcare

“Our sales are strong now, but when it comes to several years from now, we will have to think about that,” Hiroyuki Sawai, Sawai Pharmaceutical’s chairman, told a news conference on Tuesday.

Sawai is faced with intensifying competition, especially from new foreign entrants to Japan’s generic drug market.

U.S. firm Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), the world’s biggest drugmaker, plans to enter Japan’s generic market, while France’s Sanofi Aventis (SASY.PA) is teaming up with Japan’s Nichi-iko Pharmaceutical (4541.OS) in the Japanese generic drug business.

Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA.TA), the world’s No.1 generic drug maker, began marketing in Japan earlier this year through a joint venture, targeting a 10 percent share of the Japanese generic drug market, which it expects to grow to 1 trillion yen ($11 billion) by 2015. (Reporting by Yumiko Nishitani)

Sawai: to mull capital tie-up with bigger drugmaker

June 29 (Reuters) – Sawai Pharmaceutical (4555.T), Japan’s No.1 generic drug maker, said on Tuesday it will need to consider a capital tie-up with a bigger drugmaker in the future, as it will need a larger budget for product development.

Healthcare

“Our sales are strong now, but when it comes to several years from now, we will have to think about that,” Hiroyuki Sawai, Sawai Pharmaceutical’s chairman, told a news conference. (Reporting by Yumiko Nishitani)

2012 London Olympics: Fury over 20k pound payment to interior designing firm

London, June 6(ANI): The 2012 London Olympics chiefs have shelled out 20,000 pounds to an interior designing firm, Pringle Brandon, that tells them where to put desks in their offices.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has paid Pringle Brandon around 5,000 pounds a year for four years for its advice on how to divide up open-plan workspaces, and where it would be best to put desks.

“These payments date back to 2006 when the ODA was first established. The payment was made for work on the configuration of our offices in Canary Wharf,” The Daily Star quoted an ODA spokesman, as saying.

Meanwhile, Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, slammed the decision and said: “It’s bonkers to pay people so much money just to set out the desks.”

“We pay the ODA’s managers a fortune and they should be up to managing the office themselves. It’s small wonder the Olympics have run so far over budget,” Elliott added.

However, a spokesman for Pringle Brandon said that their clients hire them due to their efficiency to provide well-designed offices. (ANI)

PKO could pay higher dividend-treasury minister

Poland, June 2 (Reuters) – Poland’s top bank PKO BP (PKOB.WA) may be able to pay a dividend above the 1 billion zlotys proposed by the management, Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad said on Wednesday.

Financials

Poland, which controls 51 percent of PKO, relies on dividend payouts from state companies to help plug a gaping budget hole and had pressed some companies to hand back more cash to shareholders than proposed by their managements.

PKO has a shareholder meeting on June 25. (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko)

Concerns hospital centralisation could compromise regional areas

There are plans to stop the State Government’s plan to run Tasmania’s hospitals out of Hobart.

The Government has admitted it is leaning towards a centralised system, rather than the locally run hospitals preferred by the Federal Government.

Independent member for the Western Tiers Greg Hall says he will introduce a motion in the Upper House opposing the system.

He says there is a danger regional Tasmanians will miss out on health services under a centralised system.

“If the decision making is centralised in Hobart, the concern is that the services will be centralised, which means that a lot of people from the northern part of the state might then have to travel to Hobart for medical treatment, and I think that we always have to remember that Tasmania is a very decentralised state,” he said.

Mr Hall says he will oppose the plan.

“When Parliament sits again in budget week, I will move a notice of motion that if the current position is not reversed, then it ought to be reversed.”

Uttar Pradesh district launches afforestation drive

Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh), May 14 (ANI): The Forest Department in Uttar Pradesh”s Kushinagar District has begun a drive to plant saplings on a large scale in a bid to prevent deforestation.

“Global warming is increasing, pollution is increasing, so, to stop these things to increase, we are motivating the forest department and even the common people to plant more and more trees,” said R P Singh, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO).

The forest department is motivating other organisations to spend one percent of their budget on tree plantation, as the district accounts for just two percent of the total forest cover in the state.

“We are planting saplings on the road sides, near the canals. We are putting our best effort to plant more saplings to increase the greenery,” said Mukhundu, a gardener.

The forest department is taking help from the non-governmental organisations in the plantation drive.

According to the State of Forest Report 2009, the country has only 21.02 percent of its geographical area under forest cover. This is targeted to grow to 33 percent by 2012. (ANI)

BRIEF-Statoil affirms 2010 targets after Q1

OSLO, May 5 (Reuters) – Statoil ASA (STL.OL) said:

Stocks | Energy

* Affirms 2010 oil and gas production guidance of 1.925-1.975 mln boed

* Affirms 2012 oil and gas production guidance of 2.1-2.2 mln boed

* Planned turnarounds to limit output by 30 mln boed in Q2, by avg of 50 mboed in 2010

* Affirms 2010 capital expenditure target of $13 bln

* 2010 unit production cost goal of NOK 35-36 per barrel of oil equivalent

* Gas market to stay challenging in near term, sees volatile commodity prices

* Refining margins have improved slightly, but to remain at low levels in near term

* Affirms 2010 exploration budget of $2.3 bln, plans to drill some 50 wells

(Reporting by Oslo newsroom)

Darwin celebrates May Day

More than 500 people have marched the city streets of Darwin to celebrate May Day.

With flags held high, workers from all sectors came together to celebrate the labour movement and commemorate the introduction of the eight-hour working day.

They chanted loudly: “Workers united, never to be defeated”.

Crowds gathered streetside to watch the spectacle which snaked loudly down Mitchell Street. Celebrations later continued at the Esplanade and live bands played into the night.

Workers will tomorrow hear what the Government’s budget holds for their respective industries.

Benitez set for crunch talks at Liverpool

London, May 3 (ANI): Coach Rafa Benitez is set to face crunch talks with club owners, including new chairman Martin Broughton.

According to The Sun, he said: “I have four years left on my contract and I still have to talk with the new chairman, so nothing is clear cut, nothing is straightforward. I will have a meeting with the chairman in the next few days and we will talk.”

“We have to wait, it is not just for me to ask one or two questions. If we have a conversation we will try and keep it private. It is just to talk about the future. You are asking about my future, but the future of the club is more important,” he added.

Benitez revealed this weekend he was on the verge of quitting because of “broken promises”.

The Spaniard has told friends he is tempted by an apparent 80-million-pound budget at Juventus.

Yet he added: “I”ve heard all the speculation over the last two or three weeks and read a lot of news about a lot of things – but, at the moment, we have another game to play.” (ANI)

Calls for socio-economic study on casino

A north-west Victorian business body is calling on the State Government or developers to fund a socio-economic study of a proposed casino in Mildura.

Neither the State Government nor Opposition have taken a position on the $400 million proposal, but the Government and the developers say it will not go ahead without community support.

The Mildura Development Corporation’s chairman, Dane Huxley, says the study’s needed, but his organisation should not be doing the work or be paying for it.

“To do this properly would probably take about a quarter of our annual budget and that budget is primarily funded by differential ratepayers,” he said.

“Is it their responsibility to fund a socio-economic impact statement into a possible casino construction? I don’t think it really is.”

Tax cuts ruled out

The WA Liberals have reneged on an election promise to roll out tax cuts over four years.

In the lead up to the 2008 election the State Opposition Leader at that time, Colin Barnett, promised $250 million in tax relief over four years.

Treasurer Troy Buswell has confirmed there will be no tax cuts in next month’s budget despite revised Treasury predictions of 3.75 per cent economic growth this financial year and 4.5 per cent next year.

Mr Buswell says there will be a significant time lag between the forecast economic growth and the recovery of the state’s finances.

“I can say this, that we are not in a position as we finalise this year’s budget to contemplate taxation reductions.

Economist Peter Kenyon says the growth figures should help the State Government deliver a surplus and does not think taxes should be cut.

“Given the situation we’re in, what the Government is doing, is in fact what it should be doing.

“As a tax burden, our burden is not great by other state’s standards.”

“There’ll be no increases but there’ll be no reductions in rates of tax.”

Construction starts on hospital redevelopment

Construction has begun on the Mackay Base Hospital redevelopment project in north Queensland with an additional 155 beds due to open in 2013.

Premier Anna Bligh says the $408 million project is on schedule and on budget.

The new hospital will include additional operating theatres, a larger intensive care unit, a dedicated coronary care unit and increased mental health services.

Mediation mooted to resolve specialists fee impasse

The Liberal Member for Eastern Victoria, Philip Davis, wants the State Government to intervene in a dispute between the Bairnsdale Hospital and visiting specialists.

The specialists do not pay to use rooms, staff and medical supplies when they work at Bairnsdale.

Bairnsdale Health Service says rising costs mean they need to begin charging rental fees.

Mr Davis says he thinks a fee is justified, but mediation is needed to resolve the impasse.

“It’s unsustainable for the hospital’s budget, and therefore treatment of patients, to have a long-term increasing subsidy cost for visiting specialists,” he said.

“But those specialists have in place arrangements which they reasonably expect to continue, so there’s got to be some sort of compromise reached through mediation.”

Russian Prison Break in development

Another high-profile US series, Prison Break, is about to get an intriguing foreign treatment, this time in Russia.

Channel One Russia, the country’s leading broadcaster, is developing a full 22-episode localised version of the Fox drama. Casting is underway.

The deal marks the broadcaster’s first acquisition of a big-budget scripted US drama from a major Hollywood studio.

No financial details were available.

The original version of Prison Break debuted in 2005 and ran for four years.

Created by Paul T Scheuring, it revolved around two brothers – one on death row and the other who robs a bank so he can be incarcerated in the same prison and break him out.

Higher bills to hit those already struggling

The Salvation Army has warned that thousands of West Australians will struggle if household charges, including electricity, gas and water, increase again.

The Treasurer Troy Buswell has signalled a rise in household charges when the budget is handed down next month.

The government has already announced increases in electricity and gas tariffs and the Treasurer has indicated water charges will also jump.

Warren Palmer from the Salvation Army says families will be under immense pressure.

“We’re really anxious for thousands of West Australians that are being faced with the reality of sharp and stinging increases and continued increases to electricity, gas and water into the next year.

“In addition to this, there’s also continuing increases in rents which people are experiencing that are already at record levels.”

Mr Palmer says he expects to see an increasing number of people seeking help.

“I think one of the biggest challenges for families is there is little stability in living expenses around us, so everything is constantly increasing, so if it’s not one thing, it’s another, and that becomes increasingly difficult when you have to manage that.”

Japan Noda: no plan for extra budget

TOKYO, April 5 (Reuters) – Japan’s government will use budget reserves to support the economy rather than compiling an extra budget, deputy finance minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Monday.

“The government is ready to respond flexibly if the economy shows some changes,” Noda told a news conference.

But there has been no discussion on a supplementary budget for fiscal year that started on April 1, he said. (Reporting by Rie Ishiguro)