Jiji Press Daily Japan Business News Briefs (May 11)

PROSECUTORS SEEK 3-YEAR PRISON TERM FOR FALLEN FINANCIER MURAKAMI- -Prosecutors asked Tokyo District Court to sentence Yoshiaki Murakami, a high-profile fund manager who was once seen as a catalyst for stock market reform, to three years in prison for pocketing massive profits through insider trading.

The prosecution also asked the court to order Murakami to pay 3 million yen in fine and 1,149 million yen in forfeiture of illegally obtained profits. Murakami, 47, was indicted last June for trading shares in Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. in November 2004 and later through his investment group based on insider information obtained from Livedoor Co., which was planning to buy shares in the radio broadcaster.

NTT SEES OPERATING PROFIT RISE FOR FY ’07–Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. said its consolidated operating profit for fiscal 2007 is expected to edge up despite an anticipated sales fall.

Operating profit for the year ending in March 2008 is expected to rise 0.3 pct from the previous year to 1.11 trillion yen, the first rise in four years. Sales are seen falling 0.6 pct to 10.7 trillion yen. The revenue fall will likely be more than offset by effects from cost cuts.

MITSUBISHI MOTORS EYES AUTO PLANT FOR AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST– Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plans to build an automobile plant for the African and the Middle East markets, Jiji Press learned.

Candidate sites for the foothold include Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey, informed sources said. The Japanese automaker views Africa and the Middle East, which are rich in natural resources, as promising markets likely to follow the four BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, the sources said.

MITSUI CHEMICALS MULLS INDIAN PLANT FOR AUTO PARTS MATERIAL– Mitsui Chemicals Inc. is considering building a plant in India to produce a polypropylene-based auto parts material at a cost of several billions of yen, President Kenji Fujiyoshi said.

The firm plans to start operating the plant in 2009. The plant is slated to have capacity of producing 15,000 tons of the material a year, Fujiyoshi told a press conference. The move is intended to meet growing demand from Japanese automakers operating in India.

SEVEN BANK TO INSTALL ATMS AT NOMURA SECURITIES OUTLETS–Seven Bank will install a total of about 300 automated teller machines at Nomura Securities Co. outlets across Japan from around June, the unit of retail giant Seven & I Holdings Co. said.

Customers of Nomura Securities and banks in alliance with Seven Bank will also be allowed to use the ATMs. It will be the first time for the bank to launch ATMs outside Seven & I group outlets.END

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