Banks post record net profits
December 27, 2005Combined parent-only net profit of 129 banks in Japan totaled 2,124.2 billion yen in the April-September first half of fiscal 2005, up 5.3-fold over a year earlier to an all-time high for the six-month period, the Japanese Bankers Association said Tu...
JAL to raise domestic fares
December 27, 2005Japan Airlines said Tuesday it will raise regular one-way fares on its domestic routes by a range of 500 yen to 1,300 yen in April to cover higher fuel costs. JAL said it expects the fare increase to raise revenues by 30 billion yen in fiscal 2006...
Bridgestone to make synthetic rubber in China from 2008
December 27, 2005Bridgestone Corp on Tuesday said it will build a synthetic rubber plant in China's Guangdong Province at a cost of $100 million, with operations due to begin in the first half of 2008. The new facility aims to meet growing tire demand in Asia and...
FSA reprimands Goldman Sachs unit
December 27, 2005The Financial Services Agency said Tuesday it has ordered Goldman Sachs Asset Management Co to improve its operations in light of alleged violation of laws governing customers' asset management and investment trust business. The financial regulato...
Housing starts rise 12.6% in November
December 27, 2005Housing starts in Japan rose 12.6% in November from a year earlier to 110,986 units led by notable increases in starts of homes for rent and for sale, including condominiums, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Tuesday. It mark...
Household spending rises 0.9% in Nov
December 27, 2005Spending by Japan's wage-earning households expanded a real 0.9% in November from a year earlier to 307,309 yen for the second straight monthly rise, the government said Tuesday. But the average monthly income of salaried workers' households decl...
Japan to end oil reserve release in joint IEA action on Jan 4
December 27, 2005Japan will end its four-month-old release of oil reserves by the private sector in a concerted action with the International Energy Agency on Jan 4, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai said Tuesday. "The impact of hurricane damage...
November auto output rises 3.9%
December 27, 2005Production of cars, trucks and buses in Japan in November rose 3.9% from a year earlier to 962,378 vehicles for the first rise in two months, while auto exports edged up 0.5% to 445,607, extending a rising streak to four months, an industry body said...