Honda's son held for tax evasion
Tokyo: Japanese prosecutors have arrested Hirotoshi Honda, president of Formula One engine supplier Mugen and the eldest son of the founder of Honda Motor, over a massive tax evasion. The arrest came after prosecutors launched a criminal investigation into Mugen, which has business relations with Honda Motor, on suspicion of dodging $ five million in corporate taxes.

"Our lawyer was informed by prosecutors about the arrest of our president," said a spokesman for Mugen, based in Saitama, north of Tokyo. "But we believe he is innocent as there is no evidence proving his involvement," said the spokesman. "Facts will become clear after investigators probe the case carefully."
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Verizon says it will take about $3 billion in charges
Philadelphia: Verizon Communications, the largest US local telephone company, said on Tuesday it would take about $3bn in charges, for a change in accounting in its telephone directory unit and the planned sale of its stake in a Mexican wireless carrier.
The New York-based company said its ‘03 guidance for revenue growth and earnings, excluding one-time items, remains unchanged. Verizon, like other telephone companies, said it changed its accounting methods for its telephone book unit to recognise revenues and expenses over the life of a directory, which is usually 12 months. The change will allow quarterly earnings to be more evenly distributed throughout the year. Previously, revenues were recognised in the quarter in which a directory was distributed. The accounting change will result in an after-tax, non-cash charge to earnings of about $1.6bn, or 59 cents a share, retro-active to January 1, Verizon said. It will also take a second-quarter charge of $900m, or 33 cents a share, as it writes down the value of its investment in Grupo Iusacell, Mexico’s number 3 wireless telephone company. Verizon is selling the stake to Movil Access, owned by Mexican tycoon Ricardo Salinas.
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MGM, Paramount vie for Vivendi's Universal
London: After weeks of courting and coaxing bidders, Vivendi will put forward six contenders for its Universal film, TV and theme park business when its board meets today, presenting a line-up that includes the family that formerly owned the assets and owners of Hollywood’s MGM and Paramount studios. Cash and the ability to do a deal fast will be big swing factors in this auction — putting bidders such as Liberty Media at an advantage. Vivendi chief executive, Jean Rene Fourtou, has pledged to slash debts this year and the sale of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE) is set to be a big part of that. But liquidity is not the problem it was a year ago, when huge debts threatened to topple the world’s second-biggest media group, giving Vivendi a degree of flexibility. Vivendi will select from a list comprising: Liberty Media cable king John Malone; General Electric’s broadcasting arm NBC; Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Viacom, oil billionaire and former Twentieth Century Fox baron, Marvin Davis; and Edgar Bronfman Jr, who wants to buy back the business. The media group has told some bidders it will whittle the list down to two or three, sources familiar with the sale said.
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HMV profits up after Harry Potter launch
London: British music and bookseller HMV Group posted a bigger-than-forecast jump-in annual profit. It said that it had seen a pick-up in recent sales, especially at its book stores after the Harry Potter launch. Pre-tax profit for the year ended April 26 jumped to £96.5m ($159.1m), compared with analyst forecasts of about £94m, up from £80m last year. Dividend has been set at 4.5 pence per share. “An encouraging start has been made to the new fiscal in our UK businesses, following difficult trading conditions in the final quarter of last year,” said HMV chief executive Alan Giles.
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Swissair to cut down flab for survival
Zurich: The management of the recently relaunched national airline Swiss, (a product of Swissair’s daughter airline, Crossair) is seeking a capital of Sfr 500m ($376m) to inject into the fast depleting resources of the young airline to avoid yet another financial collapse. High quality service, a comprehensive medium-sized international and European network, reliability and safety were the bywords of Swissair, which the new airline aimed at keeping as well, and is one of the main reasons for its loss of Sfr 680m. The Swiss people, with their high standards, will also have to come to terms with the fact that the management of the airline has decided to cause a cultural revolution to reduce costs, and in the words of Swiss CEO, Andri Dosi, it will lead to the elimination of “everything that is luxurious and not essential.” Unlike Sabena, the Belgian state airline, which decided to recommence its operations on a low key after its bankruptcy in ’01, the Swiss carrier formulated a business plan that was far too ambitious for a small airline in the centre of Europe, surrounded by larger airlines.
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