Quickbites

But Hooper, Boeing8217;s senior communications manager for the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Pacific, expressed confidence that Asia should account for 35-to-40 per cent of Boeing8217;s global net sales totalling 37.9 billion for 1998.

In 1997, he said Boeing received confirmed orders for 87 airplanes in Asia worth seven billion dollars, claiming the US aircraft manufacturer had an edge over its European competitor Airbus Industrie in terms of regional market share. quot;At this point, we arestill holding to these numbers because what happens is that somebody may want to delay a delivery but somebody else may want to accelerate a delivery position, so there is usually a trade off that occurs, so we really haven8217;t changed our production rate,quot; he said.

Sharp cuts profit forecast

Japan8217;s Sharp Corp. slashed its group pre-tax profit forecast for the year to March to 49.5 billion yen 390 million from 77.6 billion yen forecast earlier. The major electronics maker attributed the downgrade to lower-than-expected prices of liquid crystal displays and integrated circuits, and to sluggish sales of air conditioners, audio visual products and personal computers. The economic slowdown in Japan and Southeast Asia also pressured business conditions, the company said in a statement. Consolidated revenue is now seen at 1.77 trillion yen, down from 1.86 trillion Yen, with the net profit now forecast at 24.5 billion yen, down from 40.5 billion yen, Sharp said.

Swiss SMH still with Smart

TheSwiss watchmaking firm SMH, denied a report that it wanted to pull out of its partnership with Daimler-Benz to produce the urban mini-car Smart. quot;There is no truth in it,quot; spokeswoman Beatrice Howald said, of the report in the latest issue of the German magazine Der Spiegel. She said Nicolas Hayek, the chairman of SMH which makes the Swatch range of watches, quot;told me he had never heard about this story, that there was nothing in it, that it is not true and that we are going to continue with MCC like we have up to now.quot;

The Micro Compact Car MCC company and Daimler-Benz contacted in Germany by AFP, declined to comment on the report in Der Spiegel. According to a statement issued by Der Spiegel, SMH, which stands for Societe de Microelectronique et D8217;Horlogerie, had been put off by a decision to postpone the launch of the Smart after it turned over during road trials. Daimler-Benz already has an 81 percent stake in MCC and was interested in acquiring SMH8217;s 19 percent, Der Spiegel said.