Wellington - Air New Zealand on Tuesday reported a 24-per- cent slump in profit for the last fiscal year because of soaring jet fuel prices.

The airline, which is 77-per-cent owned by the government, announced a pre-tax profit of 197 million New Zealand dollars (about 138 million US dollars) for the year ended June 30.

Chairman John Palmer said that the cost of fuel had risen by 300 million New Zealand dollars in the year, resulting in profit declining 24 per cent on 2006-07, despite increases in fares.

Vienna - Climbing

New Delhi, Aug 20 : Beijing Olympic Games may become the biggest broadcast event in the Olympic history, according to an official with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Timo Lumme, managing director of IOC Television and Marketing Services, said at a press conference in the Games'' Main Press Center that there is an unprecedented amount of Olympic sports content available, with around 5,000 hours of coverage provided for viewers in around 200 countries and regions worldwide through the rights holding broadcast partners.

Lumme claimed that during the Beijing Games, these partners are expected to make a combined total coverage, which will be around three times that of the Athens Games, reports Xinhua.

Luxembourg - ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel company, announced Wednesday that it was expanding its operations in Brazil with the acquisition of London Mining Brasil for about 810 million dollars (551 million euros).

The Luxembourg-based company also said it would develop an iron ore port facility in Sepetiba Bay, some 70 kilometres west of Rio de Janeiro.

ArcelorMittal wants to use the port to export iron ore extracted from the London Mining Brasil mine in the state of Minas Gerais to its steel facilities in the Atlantic basin.

Sydney - The world's biggest miner, BHP Billiton, on Monday posted a record annual profit for the seventh year in a row.

Profit for the 2008 financial year came in at 15 billion US dollars, up nearly 15 per cent from last financial year.

The good result was expected because of higher production and higher prices for oil, copper, iron ore, coal and manganese.

BHP Billiton said demand was expected to remain strong over the longer term but to slow in the short term.

Istanbul - Ankara and Tehran were unable to reach an agreement on natural gas Friday as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ended his visit to Turkey, Turkish media reported.

A row about how revenues would be divided up and investment terms are believed to be the sticking points, but the reports said the talks would continue.

"Turkey is the most important country for the delivery of gas to Europe," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying Friday. He said he hoped an agreement would be reached soon.