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Sega plans `Sonic Adventure': Sega Enterprises Ltd said on Monday that it planned to launch the first game software for its next-generation video game console Dreamcast by the end of this year. The software, "Sonic Adventure", will be the latest in a series of popular "Sonic the Hedgehog" games, a company spokeswoman said. Sega has globally sold a total of 14 million units of the game series since it was first launched in 1991, she said. Dreamcast, which is expected to hit the Japanese market on November 20 and in 1999 outside Japan, is based of Microsoft Corp's CE operating system and carries high graphics capacity, Sega said in May. Sega, whose 32-bit Sega Saturn game player has been losing market share, hopes the new game machine will help the company regain a leading position in the game machine market.
Mitsubishi Heavy H1 profit seen down 50%: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd's parent current profit for the first half of 1998-99 which started in April is expected to fall about 50 per cent from a year ago to around 40 billion yen, a business daily reported. A Mitsubishi Heavy spokeswoman said on Monday that the company would not comment on the report. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that the weak business performance was mainly due to unprofitable projects it had won in other parts of Asia in the mid-1990s. The company was also hit by falling demand for construction equipment and machinery in Southeast Asia, the paper said. The company's parent sales in the six months to September are expected to reach about one trillion yen, down 16 per cent from a year ago, the paper said. The company is also burdened by heavy interest payments due to an increase in its borrowings, it said.
Singapore electronics sector retrenchments: Electronics firms in Singapore have laid off about 5,500 workers so far in 1998 and the number is expected to rise, according to a media report. The report said that 15 firms, among them Seagate Technology, Texas Instruments and Compaq Computer Corp, had laid off 4,800 workers in the first six months of the year. The retrenchments span a range of electronic sub-sectors from disk drive manufacturers and semi-conductor industries to the ailing consumer electronics businesses, it said. Seagate led the number of layoffs after shedding 1,800 staff in January, the report said. Texas Instruments was next with 600 employees retrenched and Compaq third, with 500 employees laid off, including 100 retrenched by Digital Equipment in March after Compaq took over the firm.
Pioneer aims Y1.2 trln group sales in 2005: Japan's Pioneer Electronic Corp said on Monday that it aims for group sales of 1.2 trillion yen in fiscal 2005-06. It also aims for group net profit of 55 billion yen and a group-based return-on-equity ratio of 10 per cent in 2005-06, the company said in a statement. The company also said it aims to become the number one company in the global market for digital video discs (DVDs).
Pfizer licenses Phytopharm obesity drug: Britain's Phytopharm Plc, which specialises in creating drugs based on plants and other botanical sources, said on Monday that it had signed a worldwide development and commercialisation deal with Pfizer Inc of the US for its obesity drug P57. Phytopharm said that the deal would generate up to $32 million in licence fees and milestone payments based on the achievement of specific objectives, with Pfizer contributing at least another $7 million towards an early development programme to be carried out by Phytopharm.
CSFB sees Novartis H1 net up 15%: Credit Suisse First Boston said it expected Novartis to report on August 27 that group net profit rose 15 per cent in the first half of 1998 to 3.6 billion Swiss francs."While first-half sales showed only three per cent local-currency growth, we expect Novartis to achieve stronger net income growth for two reasons: cost synergies are on track (1.4 billion francs at the end of H1 1998) and net financial income will be very strong," it said in a research note. Novartis registered shares were up 25 francs to 2,442 around 0805 GMT in a generally firmer market.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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