Reuters Asia Business

By Arriana McLymore, Helen Reid and Emma Rumney NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – In recent months, plenty of business executives have said they were taking a wait-and-see approach to U.S. President Donald Trump’s broad threats of tariffs. Early holiday-quarter earnings reports show many of them were not.  Automakers like General Motors and Mercedes, French cognac makers, …

Analysis-Companies race to ship goods to the US ahead of potential tariffs Read More »

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Nissan Motor is offering buyouts to workers and cutting back shifts at three U.S. factories, a company spokesperson said on Thursday, as the automaker pushes to slash $2.6 billion in costs globally. Nissan will offer the separation packages to workers at its vehicle assembly plants in Smyrna, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi, …

Nissan cuts shifts, offers employee buyouts at 3 US plants in bid to shed jobs Read More »

By Rocky Swift TOKYO (Reuters) -Takeda Pharmaceutical said on Thursday its CEO Christophe Weber will retire after more than a decade at the helm of Japan’s biggest drugmaker as the company upped its full-year profit outlook. Julie Kim, president of the company’s U.S. unit, was named to succeed Weber in June 2026. Weber, one of …

Drugmaker Takeda’s CEO Weber to step down, raises profit forecast Read More »

TOKYO (Reuters) – Fuji Media, rocked by a scandal that has gripped Japan, on Thursday slashed its annual net profit forecast by two-thirds citing a sharp drop in advertising revenue. Fuji Media this week announced a management shake-up amidst a probe into alleged sexual misconduct by a celebrity TV host against one of its staff. …

Scandal-hit Fuji Media slashes profit guidance after advertisers’ exodus Read More »

By Anton Bridge TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s Rakuten Group has decided not to seek a listing for Rakuten Securities on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, it said on Thursday, adding it would instead deepen collaboration with major shareholder Mizuho Securities and other firms within the Mizuho Group. The struggling e-commerce giant had said in November that it …

Japan’s Rakuten Group scraps plan to list Rakuten Securities Read More »

TOKYO (Reuters) -Toyota Motor sold 10.8 million vehicles in 2024, it said on Thursday, remaining the world’s top-selling automaker for a fifth straight year. The Japanese automaker posted a 3.7% drop in global group unit sales last year, including those of compact car maker Daihatsu and truck unit Hino Motors. The decline was largely due …

Toyota sells 10.8 million vehicles in 2024 to remain world’s top-selling automaker Read More »

By Anirban Sen (Reuters) -SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $25 billion in ChatGPT owner OpenAI, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the Japanese conglomerate continues to expand into the sector. SoftBank could invest $15 billion to $25 billion directly into Microsoft-backed OpenAI, some of which may be used to …

SoftBank in talks to invest up to $25 billion into OpenAI, says source Read More »