Asian Markets Overview of March 30, 2010: Ericsson (NYSE:ERIC) Secured US$1.8B Deals with China Mobile (HKG:0941) and China Unicom (HKG:0762)

Monday Wall Street rose as higher commodities prices boosted energy and mining companies. The US markets also received support from positive consumer spending in February. Asian markets closed mixed yesterday. Chinese stocks rallied as China said it plans to launch the long expected stock-index future in April 16. Shanghai Composite jumped 2.1 per cent to a two month high, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.9 per cent. South Korea's Kospi Composite was 0.3 per cent lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.1 per cent.

Company News

Swedish telecommunications equipment vendor L.M. Ericsson (NYSE:ERIC) said Monday it has signed framework agreements to provide network equipment for China's mobile service giants. Ericsson secured a US$1 billion deal with China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE:CHL) (HKG:0941) to provide radio access equipment, which will boost the network's capacity and evolve it into an Internet Protocol, or IP, network. The Swedish company was also awarded a US$800 million contract by China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) (HKG:0762)s to provide a faster third-generation network with HSPA Evolution technology, as well as IP and broadband equipment.

Japan's Nippon Steel Corp (TYO:5401) has reached a tentative agreement with Brazilian mining giant Vale (NYSE:VALE) to pay US$100-$110 per tonne of iron ore in the April-June quarter, reported a Japanese media. This represents a 90 per cent increase from the price in fiscal 2009.

Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Corp. (TPE:1301) said its net profit jumped 40 per cent in 2009 because of higher investment income from affiliates. Net profit for the 12 months ended Dec. 31 was NT$27.53 billion, up from NT$19.71 billion in 2008.

Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd. (HKG:0880) reported a 14 per cent rise in 2009 net profit thanks to stronger gaming revenue in the second half. Its net profit for the 12 months ended Dec. 31 was HK$906.7 million, up from HK$796.1 million a year earlier. The result was better than market forecasts while the company posted a 41% fall in first-half net profit on top of a 48% drop in 2008. SJM said it doesn't expect the Macau government's new policy to cap gaming tables to significantly impact the company's business.


Related Companies

Vale S.A.
            

SJM Holdings Limited
      

Formosa Plastics Corporation
      

Ericsson
      

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited
      

China Mobile Ltd.