Headlines

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it expects to post its first-ever operating loss in the fiscal year through March 2009 and barely eke out a net profit, showing how severely the global economic downturn is hitting even the world's most competitive companies, The Wall Street Journal reported. Japan's biggest company by market cap said it expects consolidated operating loss of ¥150 billion, or about $1.68 billion, in the fiscal year through March 31, 2009, hurt by sliding demand in the U.S., Europe and Japan and the rising yen against the dollar.

British car parts maker Wagon PLC laid off almost 300 staff as it shut down its manufacturing base Friday, the Associated Press reported. Interim management specialist firm Zolfo Cooper, which took over Wagon's day to day operations after it filed for bankruptcy last week, said 292 staff had been laid off at the site in Birmingham, northern England.

The Philippine government is taking over four more banks after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) found them to be having liquidity problems, GMANews reported. In a statement released on Monday, the BSP said Nation Bank in Bacolod City, Rural Bank of DARBCI in General Santos City, Bicol Development Bank in Legaspi City and Rural Bank of Carmen in Cebu are now under receivership of state insurer Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC).

Urban Corp., the developer that filed Japan’s biggest bankruptcy this year, may be sold separately after failing to attract final bids due today from investors, two people familiar with the situation said, Bloomberg reported. Daiwa House Industry Co., Japan’s biggest home builder, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

A crackdown on insolvency regulations will come into effect from 1 January that will make it harder for some practitioners to quickly push through controversial sales of retailers in administration, The Independent reported. The new statement of insolvency practice 16 in England and Wales will make it mandatory that administrators disclose detailed information to creditors before and after a pre-packaged administration.

Ron Doyle Motors has been dragged into receivership following the collapse of parent company Pacific Toyota Group (PTG) on Monday, the Eden Magnet reported. Fraser Motors, only weeks away from signing over to the same company, has escaped the same fate. Ron Doyle Motors was one of several acquisitions made in the region this year by the now dubbed Eden Motoring Group, which included yards at Bega, Cooma, Goulbourn, Batemans Bay and Narooma.

Global Investment House (GIH), the largest investment bank in Kuwait, has been downgraded to a notch above default by Fitch Ratings after the bank warned it may default on a loan, The National reported. The rerating to a ‘C’ came after GIH told Fitch that it is unable to repay a loan which matured yesterday. The company has a grace period of 72 hours to meet the obligation before defaulting. The downgrade followed the announcement from GIH earlier this month that it was seeking US$1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) from local banks.

Ukraine’s hryvnia pared a record two-day plunge after the central bank said a rate above 9 per dollar was “unacceptable,” Bloomberg reported. The currency fell 1.7 percent to 9.1000 per dollar by 6:28 p.m. in Kiev. It pared an earlier 18 percent two-day drop to a record 9.78 after the central bank sold reserves to support the currency. Petro Poroshenko, head of the central bank council, said at a press conference a weak hryvnia is a threat to the economy.

British auto manufacturers stepped up pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government to deliver an industry bailout package on Thursday as a report revealed that car production slumped by a third in November, the Associated Press reported. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders wants the government--which has confirmed it is in talks with Jaguar Land Rover's Indian owner about possible financial support--to move quickly to restore demand and loosen tight credit conditions.

A judge Thursday sentenced Parmalat SpA founder Calisto Tanzi to 10 years in prison for securities-laws violations related to the Italian dairy company's collapse in 2003, one of the world's biggest corporate scandals, The Wall Street Journal reported. The verdict caps only one of two trials stemming from Parmalat's bankruptcy. A bigger trial related to the decade-long fraud--allegedly at the hand of top managers--that left the company saddled with €14 billion ($20.15 billion) in debt began earlier this year in the northern city of Parma. Mr.