Reuters: Business News

News Corp to take charge of up to $1.4 billion this quarter

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:48:38 GMT

(Reuters) - News Corp said on Friday it will write down the value of its Australian and U.S. publishing assets by up to $1.4 billion (925.4 million pounds), as the company prepares to split its business between its newspaper and entertainment operations.

Visa, Mastercard ask U.S. court to declare card fees are lawful

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:44:31 GMT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc , opening another front in an eight-year battle over credit card fees paid by retailers, on Friday asked a federal judge to declare that the fees do not violate antitrust law.

Yahoo joins growing list of bidders for Hulu - sources

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:40:30 GMT

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc has submitted a formal proposal to buy Hulu, joining a growing list of bidders for the video service owned by News Corp and Walt Disney Co, two sources with knowledge of the bid told Reuters on Friday.

Stimulus fears haunt share markets, dollar recovers

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:32:14 GMT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets edged lower on Friday on worries the U.S. Federal Reserve may curb its stimulus program, while the dollar recovered against the euro to trade flat after better-than-expected U.S. durable goods data for April.

Co-op Bank stops lending to new corporate clients

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:21:15 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - The Co-operative Bank has stopped offering loans to new business customers, part of measures designed to quell growing concerns over its capital position.

Deutsche Post files EU complaint against German email law

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:19:51 GMT

DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - Deutsche Post has filed a complaint with the European Commission against a German law that will require government agencies and public services to use a rival encrypted email system.

Bankia sells City National Bank of Florida for $883 million

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:53:42 GMT

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish nationalized lender Bankia SA said on Friday it had sold City National Bank of Florida to Chilean bank BCI for $883 million (583 million pounds), part of a plan to sell assets to boost solvency.

Exclusive - DBRS to rate all euro zone sovereigns by year-end

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:45:00 GMT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - DBRS plans to rate the credit of all euro-zone sovereigns by year-end, from the current 10 of 17, which will give the now-missing countries one more way for the ECB to weigh how valuable each nation's debt is as collateral.

Analysis - German economy to pick up but fall short of traditional pace

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:59:21 GMT

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's economy will recover from a bout of winter weakness but fall well short of the dynamic growth rates of previous years as euro zone recession and global slowdown stunt exports and investment.

Ford to retain 1,000 jobs at French plant after deal

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:35:15 GMT

BLANQUEFORT, France (Reuters) - U.S. car maker Ford will retain 1,000 jobs at a plant in southwest France after striking a deal on Friday with local authorities to share the burden of new investments needed to keep the factory operating.

Analysis - Gold faces more pressure as inflation stays tame

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:33:33 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices are looking even more vulnerable after April's price crash, as rampant inflation expected from successive rounds of monetary easing fails to materialise.

UBS France could face criminal investigation - source

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:15:22 GMT

PARIS (Reuters) - UBS' French unit could be placed under formal investigation in the coming days as part of a broader probe into the Swiss bank's business practices, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Ally of HK leader investigated in exchange probe

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:52:47 GMT

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The chairman of Hong Kong's Mercantile Exchange is under police investigation, the government said on Friday, as three other men were charged with possessing false documents including a fake cheque for $460 million (304.2 million pounds) following a probe into alleged irregularities at the shuttered exchange.

News Corp's publishing business to initiate stock buyback

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:16:48 GMT

(Reuters) - News Corp set the distribution ratios for the spinoff of its publishing business, which may start buying back stock right away.

Pullback on FTSE deepens as HSBC declines

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:12:57 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100, which had raced to its highest level in nearly 13 years this week, fell sharply for the second straight session on Friday as a decline at major bank HSBC hit the market.

HSBC calls for faster banking reforms

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:10:25 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC called on regulators to speed up industry reform as its shareholders urged Europe's biggest bank to take a lead in cutting pay and criticised it for compliance failings and aiding tax avoidance.

EU reviews policies, looks for ways to help aluminium industry

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:05:55 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Commission expects to complete a review by October of ways to help Europe's struggling aluminium industry, looking at policies such as on import duties and long-term power contracts.

Monte Paschi might not be an isolated bank case in Italy - Chairman

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:55:55 GMT

BAGNAIA, Italy (Reuters) - The crisis that has hit Italy's third-largest lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena might not be an isolated case, Monte Paschi Chairman Alessandro Profumo said on Friday.

P&G CEO switch will not lead to big strategy change - CFO

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:38:48 GMT

(Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co said on Friday the surprise return of A.G. Lafley as chairman and chief executive was not an indication of any bigger problems at the world's largest consumer products maker.

EU risks 'too big to cooperate' bank supervision

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:30:12 GMT

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - The role of the European Banking Authority must be beefed up beyond current plans to ensure that regulation of Europe's banks does not fragment into two competing systems, one of the architects of the reforms told a public hearing on Friday.

U.S. durable goods orders point to factory resilience

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:16:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose more than expected in April, a hopeful sign that a sharp slowdown in factory output could soon run its course.

Henrik Fisker joins Hong Kong tycoon to salvage Fisker - sources

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:35:52 GMT

DETROIT/BEIJING (Reuters) - Henrik Fisker is working with an investor group to salvage Fisker Automotive, the "green" car company he co-founded nearly six years ago that is now struggling to stave off bankruptcy, people familiar with the matter said this week.

Italian tax police seize assets of steel magnate Riva

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:31:50 GMT

BARI, Italy (Reuters) - Italy's tax police have seized assets worth 8.1 billion euros belonging to the Riva family, owners of the Italian steel group ILVA, in connection with allegations of environmental crimes, investigative sources said on Friday.

RLPC-Royal Mail sounds out market for 1.5 billion pounds IPO loan

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:13:23 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Banks have been asked to gauge by the end of this week the appetite for a 1.5 billion-pound syndicated loan to back the planned privatisation of Britain's Royal Mail Group , banking sources said.

Insight - Luxury brands position for U.S. boom

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:11:46 GMT

PARIS/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most men might balk at spending $600 (396.83 pounds) on a pair of Dior sneakers but for U.S. shoppers like Ephraim, an upbeat 30-year-old, such indulgences are becoming increasingly commonplace.