[July 29, 2009]

Kyodo economic news summary -6-+

(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, July 29_(Kyodo) _ ---------- Microsoft, Yahoo agree on Internet search partnership NEW YORK - Computer software giant Microsoft Corp. and major Internet search engine Yahoo Inc. said Wednesday that they have agreed on a business partnership centering on online search and advertising.

The deal will combine Yahoo's 19.6 percent share of the Internet search market with Microsoft's 8.4 percent in an effort to challenge U.S. Internet search market leader Google Inc., which controls 65 percent, according to data from U.S. survey firm comScore Inc.

---------- Nomura swings back to black for 1st time in 6 quarters TOKYO - Nomura Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it swung back into the black in the April-June period for the first time in six quarters as a recent recovery in financial markets helped boost its retail and stock underwriting businesses.

Japan's largest brokerage house posted a group net profit of 11.42 billion yen for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 that started April 1, compared with a loss of 76.59 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

---------- Japanese shipmaster tied up by pirates in South China Sea SINGAPORE - Pirates attacked and robbed a Japanese-owned cargo ship last month in the South China Sea off Malaysia, according to a piracy monitoring center in Singapore.

The Panama-flagged "White Tokio" was traveling from Lumut, a port in northwestern Malaysia, to Niigata, Japan, laden with limestone when the incident happened at night on June 28, said the latest report from the Information Sharing Center of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).

---------- Nissan logs operating profit in 1st qtr, but still sees full-year loss TOKYO - Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday it narrowly managed to report a profit on the operating level during the April to June quarter, but kept intact its full-year loss forecasts in the face of continued heavy declines in auto sales in most key markets.

Japan's third-largest automaker saw a better-than-expected group operating profit of 11.60 billion yen in the quarter, although down 85.5 percent from a year earlier, due to a weaker-than-expected yen during the reporting period and brisk sales in China. Its operating loss in the January-March quarter was 230.4 billion yen.

---------- Honda recalling over 1,500 Inspire, Saber vehicles TOKYO - Honda Motor Co. is recalling 1,532 units of its Inspire and Saber passenger cars as the driver-side airbags could rupture, according to its report to the transport ministry Wednesday.

The inflator could produce excessive pressure and cause metal fragments to pass through the airbag, possibly resulting in injury, according to the ministry.

---------- Honda raises FY 2009 profit forecast on solid sales of hybrid car Tokyo - Honda Motor Co. revised upward on Wednesday its earnings forecast for fiscal 2009 ending next March, citing an upbeat outlook for cost-cutting measures and robust sales of its Insight gasoline-electric hybrid hatchback.

The carmaker is now expecting a group net profit of 55 billion yen against an earlier projection of 40 billion yen. It forecasts its auto sales will likely increase, mainly in the domestic market, driven by its high-mileage vehicles on the back of recent tax breaks for eco-friendly cars.

---------- Child-care service firms to set up more than 300 new nurseries TOKYO - Several major child-care service companies in Japan are planning to set up a total of more than 300 new nurseries in the next three years, according to a Kyodo News survey compiled Wednesday.

As there are about 540 existing day-care facilities run by eight major child-care service companies, the number of facilities would increase by more than 50 percent, which could help to accommodate the increasing number of children waiting to get into day-care facilities.

---------- LDP suggests sales tax hike, plays up sense of responsibility TOKYO - In an apparent effort to differentiate itself from its main rival, the Democratic Party of Japan, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party suggests a possible tax hike to pay for its economic stimuli in its campaign platform for the Aug. 30 general election, according to the final draft of the manifesto obtained Wednesday.

Specifically, the beleaguered LDP says in the draft for the manifesto set to be unveiled Friday that it aims to achieve an annual growth of 2 percent in the latter half of fiscal 2010 and make Japan's per capita income the highest level in the world, by increasing household take-home income by an average 1 million yen.

---------- Honda, Nissan eke out 1st qtr operating profits amid eco-car race TOKYO - Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. on Wednesday both beat market expectations by managing to report operating profits for the April to June quarter, but their full-year outlooks were sharply divided by their separate strategies for green cars.

Honda, Japan's second-largest automaker, revised upward its earnings forecast for fiscal 2009 ending next March, citing robust sales of its Insight gasoline-electric hybrid hatchback on the back of recent tax breaks and subsidies for fuel-efficient cars.

---------- Sompo Japan, Nipponkoa ink deal to integrate under NKSJ Holdings TOKYO - Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. and Nipponkoa Insurance Co. signed an agreement Wednesday to integrate their managements April 1 under a joint holding company, to be called NKSJ Holdings Inc., to provide "services of the highest quality" and increase competitiveness, the two companies said.

Sompo Japan President Masatoshi Sato, who will assume the presidency of NKSJ Holdings, told a news conference, "We will also bolster our overseas operations through the integration." (c) 2009 Kyodo News International, Inc.

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