Japan

Schlierenzauer wins again in Austrian ski-jumping sweep

Gregor SchlierenzauerSapporo, Japan - Gregor Schlierenzauer was a familiar winner when he led a podium sweep on another glorious day for Austria in World Cup ski-jumping on Saturday.

Schlierenzauer won for the fourth time in a row as Austria has now won all 10 competitions held this year. His win ahead of Thomas Morgenstern and Wolfgang Loitzl was their first sweep of the season after one-two finishes in the previous three events.

The World Cup leader Schlierenzauer, 19, soared 133 and 120.5 metres as he claimed his eighth win of the season and 19th overall with 253.3 points on the 2007 world championship hill.

Schlierenzauer wins again in Austrian ski-jumping sweep

Japanese FlagSapporo, Japan - Gregor Schlierenzauer was a familiar winner when he led a podium sweep on another glorious day for Austria in World Cup ski-jumping on Saturday.

Schlierenzauer won for the fourth time in a row as Austria has now won all 10 competitions held this year. His win ahead of Thomas Morgenstern and Wolfgang Loitzl was their first sweep of the season after one-two finishes in the previous three events.

The World Cup leader Schlierenzauer, 19, soared 133 and 120.5 metres as he claimed his eighth win of the season and 19th overall with 253.3 points on the 2007 world championship hill.

Fujitsu revises down earnings forecast for this fiscal year

FujitsuTokyo - Fujitsu Ltd on Friday reversed its forecast for a profit for the current fiscal year and said it expected to suffer a 20-billion-yen (222.21-million-dollar) net loss because of dwindling demand and a strong yen.

In October, the Japanese electronics company had forecast a net profit of 60 billion yen for the year that ends March 31.

It also cut operating profit to 50 billion yen from an earlier projection of 150 billion yen and sales to 4.7 trillion yen from 5.05 trillion yen.

Hitachi forecasts 700-billion-yen loss, announces job cuts

HitachiTokyo - Hitachi Ltd said Friday that it expected a record loss of 700 billion yen (7.78 billion dollars) for the current fiscal year on sluggish demand for semiconductors, car devices and digital products and announced thousands of job cuts.

The Japanese electronics company had previously forecast profit of 15 billion yen for the year that ends March 31.

Hitachi also cut its sales projection by 8.1 per cent to 10.02 trillion yen for the year while it said it expected operating profit of 40 billion yen, which was also revised downward from 410 billion yen.

Japan gripped by fear as recession reaches new dimension

Japan's economyTokyo - Fear grows in Japan as the world's second largest economy is hit by the most severe recession in the post-War years after enjoying several years on the economic upswing.

"Japan's economy is falling off a cliff," a Tokyo-based analyst said.

Industrial production in December was down 9.6 per cent compared to the previous month, and a whopping 20 per cent compared to December 2007 as a result of shrinking foreign demand.

Honda cuts earnings projections for fiscal 2008

Honda cuts earnings projections for fiscal 2008Tokyo  - Honda Motor Co on Friday revised downward its earnings forecast for fiscal 2008 that ends in March after suffering from the yen's surge against other currencies and sluggish auto sales due to the global recession.

Japan's second largest automaker after Toyota Motor Corp said it expected a net profit of 80 billion yen (888.83 million dollars) for the full year, down from 185 billion yen it projected in December.

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