Japan's Sanyo Electric Company Limited is likely to report a lower-than-expected group pre-tax profit of 16 billion yen ($118 million) for the six months to September, a report said. The estimate is down 27 per cent from a year earlier and four billion yen short of the company's earlier forecast, as domestic sales of consumer electronics were slack, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.

Group sales for the half are believed to have fallen 4 per cent from a year earlier to 945 billion yen, pressured by weak demand for air conditioners, refrigerators and batteries, the business daily reported. The semiconductor business managed to avoid a sharp income fall due to their limited reliance on microchips, it said. Many Japanese electronics giants are suffering losses due to sharp price drops for memory chips.

China to achieve target growth

China will achieve its target of 8 per cent economic growth this year despite the Asian crisis and disastrous flooding thisyear, the Chinese Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng said on Friday. Neither event ``will stop China from reaching an 8 per cent growth rate this Year,'' Xiang told a seminar on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings here.

Prime Minister Zhu Rogji said on Wednesday that China's economy needs to grow a hefty 10.4 per cent in the last quarter to reach the 1998 growth target, but that he was confident of reaching that goal. Xiang also reiterated Friday that China would not devalue its currency, saying that this policy was not only in the interests of its own economy but also for other economies in Asia and the rest of the world. ``The depreciation of the renminbi can boost exports for a certain time, but would also have a negative impact on imports,'' Xiang said.

Sakura, Deutsche Bank in tie-up talks

Japan's Sakura Bank Limited has entered talks with Deutsche Bank AG and a second-tier brokerage to offer asset management services here, a daily said. The two banks and Kokusai SecuritiesCompany Limited, are considering a joint venture in Japan to develop investment trusts products and to manage the funds of individuals, the Sankei Shimbun said.

The move is aimed at taking advantage of the deregulation of investment trusts on December 1, which will allow banks to sell such investment instruments to individual customers, the paper said. They are now negotiating the details, including the equity stake to be held by each, it said.

Sakura, despite its strength in retail banking, has been under pressure on the stock market due to the burden of its bad loans. The report followed the announcement on Thursday by Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Limited and US Giant J.P. Morgan and Company that they would tie up in the investment trust business targeting Japanese retail customers.