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British Airways PLC and Spain's Iberia SA talked up the benefits of a proposed $7 billion merger on Friday, dismissing criticisms that the deal could increase fares, reduce competition and drag down service standards at Britain's flagship carrier.
Banking group Barclays PLC on Tuesday reported strong earnings in its investment banking unit and announced the restart of dividend payments, but also warned that the bad debts weighing on its profits have not yet peaked.
British candy maker Cadbury PLC rejected a renewed 9.8 billion pound ($16.4 billion) hostile bid from Kraft Foods Inc. on Monday after the U.S. company refused to sweeten a previous offer.
Finance officials from rich and developing countries have pledged to maintain emergency support for their economies until recovery is assured, but failed to reach a clear agreement to bear the cost of fighting climate change.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the world's second largest drug maker by revenue, posted Wednesday an 11 percent rise in third quarter earnings on the back of strong sales of the flu drug Relenza and forecast an even bigger boost from its swine flu vaccines in the final quarter of the year.
The Bank of England held interest rates steady at a record low of 0.5 percent for the sixth consecutive month on Thursday and pledged to continue its program to boost the money supply despite gathering signs of an economic recovery.
Top finance officials from rich and developing countries agreed Saturday to curb hefty bankers' bonuses, but the proposed crackdown on excessive payouts so far falls short of European demands after the U.S. and Britain shied away from imposing a cap.
A downbeat report from the Royal Bank of Scotland PLC on Friday clouded a week of earnings updates that started with suggestions that the country's lenders were over the worst of the financial crisis — almost exactly two years after the credit squeeze took hold.
HSBC Holdings PLC and Barclays PLC shrugged off the near-collapse of Britain's banking system to report combined profits of more than 5 billion pounds ($8.4 billion) on Monday, fueling talk of financial recovery and raising fears of a return of the banking bonus culture.
As demand for premium class air travel is steadily whittled away by the global recession, British Airways PLC is leading moves among European flagship carriers to strip out costly services like onboard meals that had previously distinguished them from budget airlines.
Satellite TV service British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC posted a solid fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday as more consumers turned to home entertainment in the recession — drawing the company closer to its target of 10 million subscribers by 2010.
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC posted a 6 percent rise in second quarter net profit on Thursday as the company weathered the global recession better than feared and some of its key drugs benefited from a lack of generic competition.
GlaxoSmithKline, the world's second largest drug maker by revenues, posted an 11 percent rise in second quarter profit on Wednesday after strong pharmaceutical sales in emerging markets helped offset the impact of generic competition in the United States.
The wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has kept a blog of her activities on the sidelines of the G-8 Summit, stepping up attempts to boost her public profile while her husband's popularity is plummeting.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Thursday he will soon propose sweeping changes to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that would require states suspected of seeking to build nuclear weapons to prove that they are not.
Oil major BP Group PLC surprised the industry by revealing Thursday it has selected current L.M. Ericsson chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg as its new chairman, ending a two-year hunt to fill the position.
The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC said Thursday that its former chief executive Fred Goodwin has agreed to halve his annual pension after outrage at the size of the payout and threats by the government to take legal action.
Tesco PLC, the world's third largest retailer, reported solid growth in quarterly sales on Tuesday with its international businesses making a strong contribution to the increase.
Virgin Media, the cable TV operator owned by entrepreneur Richard Branson, launched a new kind of music download subscription service Monday with Universal, the world's largest music company.
An unlikely duo of a fashion heiress and a Nobel Prize-winning economist is pushing a controversial plan to boost aid to the developing world by giving wealthy donors a greater say in how the money is distributed.
Barclays PLC, the British bank that stood apart from its peers by shunning a government bailout, on Thursday posted a sharp rise in first-quarter net profit after its investment banking profits surged from the acquisition of U.S. assets of bankrupt Lehman Brothers.
British Treasury chief Alistair Darling is likely to present a bleak annual budget next week with little good news for the average Briton as the economy wallows in recession.
Barclays PLC said Thursday that it has agreed to sell its U.S.-based asset management business iShares to European private equity firm CVC Capital Partners Group, booking a net gain of $2.2 billion from the sale.
Britain's financial services watchdog proposed sweeping changes to global banking regulations on Wednesday, including a crackdown on the "shadow banking" activities of institutions like hedge funds.
Mining company Rio Tinto PLC named a new chairman on Tuesday in its second attempt to install a successor to Paul Skinner, appointing Jan du Plessis as its planned $19.5 billion deal with Chinalco ran into heavy political winds in Australia.
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