Business May 19, 2012

Resona vows early bailout payback

Resona Holdings Inc., recipient of a ¥1.96 trillion bailout in 2003, plans to pay back most of the money still owed to taxpayers earlier than scheduled thanks to growing profit reserves. “We’ve built retained earnings and are not going to sell new shares,” Resona ...

Business Apr 25, 2012

MUFJ to hire 200 for derivatives business

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. will hire 50 currency and interest-rate derivatives traders globally in the next three years to help more than double annual profit in the business to ¥500 billion. Lending unit Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. will also add 150 sales ...

Business Apr 7, 2011

Bankers urge aid for Tepco

The government needs to come to the financial aid of Tokyo Electric Power Co. before banks resume lending to the beleaguered utility, the head of the Japanese Bankers Association said. “We need to wait until the government clarifies how it will help” Tepco, particularly ...

Business Jan 6, 2011

Sumitomo to double water biz workers

Sumitomo Corp. will double the head count of its global water division within seven years in a bid to boost the size of its water assets eightfold through investment and acquisitions. Japan’s third-biggest trading house plans to hire and transfer internally to expand the ...

National Dec 2, 2009

Amano faces defiant Tehran, Pyongyang

, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks with Malaysia’s Mohd Arshad bin Monzoor Hussein, chairman of the IAEA’s Board of Governors, as departing IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei looks on at Vienna’s International Center on Friday. AP PHOTO Amano, 62, handled ...

Business Sep 9, 2009

IPO eyed for Showa Shell solar-panel unit

Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. is considering selling shares in a solar-panel unit to fund an expansion of its renewable energy business and cut reliance on fuel sales. Shares in Showa Shell Solar K.K. may be sold either in Japan or overseas, Chairman Shigeya Kato ...

Business Jul 31, 2009

TCI learned the hard way via J-Power play

It was a crisp day in November 2005 when hedge fund manager John Ho entered Electric Power Development Co.’s headquarters in Tokyo, betting Japan’s corporate attitudes were ripe for change. Ho, then director of Asia-Pacific investments at the Children’s Investment Fund Management UK LLP, ...

Business Mar 17, 2009

Firms face call for outside directors

The government may require publicly traded companies to hire outside directors to enhance corporate governance standards as the Nikkei average trades near two-decade lows. A 20-member panel led by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry aims to unveil a plan in June that ...

Business Mar 7, 2009

Battery deal sought with EU

Japan will seek an agreement with the European Union to jointly develop solar cells and new ultralight batteries for electric cars that can deliver three times the power of current technology, a Japanese official said Thursday, prior to a meeting that began Friday. The ...

Business Feb 20, 2008

Inpex to increase spending on overseas oil, gas projects by 50%

Inpex Holdings Inc. will increase spending on overseas oil and natural gas projects by as much as 50 percent a year to keep pace with soaring material and engineering costs. Annual spending on overseas projects may rise to as much as ¥300 billion over ...

Business Nov 17, 2007

Sudan abuses may spur oil ban; utilities probe impact

The trade ministry is studying the effect of a possible ban on Sudanese oil imports, anticipating increased public pressure to halt trade with the African nation because of concern about human rights abuses, officials said. The world’s second-largest oil importer would become the first ...