COMPANIES

Media production firm Ten Alps Plc (TAL.L) posted a rise in first-half pretax profit due to cost cuts and improved margins and said it was comfortable with the full-year consensus view, sending its shares up 5.8 percent.

Thousands of British Airways (BAY.L) cabin crew voted to strike, hours after the airline revealed a 3.7 billion pound ($6 billion) hole in its pension fund that will require deft handling by management if a proposed merger with Iberia (IBLA.MC) is to stay on track.

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co (BAIC) said on Monday it had acquired some assets of General Motors' Saab unit as part of a push to develop its own-brand cars.

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a lower court to dismiss a legal challenge by three Indiana pension funds to the government-backed sale of bankrupt automaker Chrysler LLC to a group led by Italian carmaker Fiat SpA.

A Chinese IT outsourcing company and an optical components maker are aiming to select investment banks in the next two weeks with the goal of making U.S. initial public offerings by as soon as the first half of 2010, one of their investors said on Monday.

Nike Inc Chairman and co-founder Phil Knight said the scandal surrounding Tiger Woods is part of the game in signing endorsement deals with athletes and did not back away from the athletic shoe and clothing maker's relationship with the golfer.

Oracle does not plan to offer any new remedies on top of proposals made earlier to EU competition regulators reviewing its plan to buy Sun Microsystems, a source close to Oracle said.

Brazilian Finance, controlled by Ourinvest Real Estate Holding and hedge fund firm TPG-Axon Capital Management, will issue new common and preferred stock to Coyote Trail LLC, a unit of Equity International, for an undisclosed sum.

Privately-held real estate company Fairfield Residential LLC filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday, saying that the collapse of the U.S. real estate and capital markets has made it difficult to continue without restructuring.

James Cameron's long-awaited Avatar, one of the most expensive films ever made, takes off this week in an awe-inspiring display of Hollywood power that has revolutionized cinematic special effects.

Tiger Woods' decision to withdraw from professional golf due to a sex scandal raised questions Friday about his future as a magnet for corporate sponsors, with AT&T saying it was evaluating its ties.

German power plant capacity reported by 26 utility companies to energy exchange EEX is likely to rise by 0.9 percent to 69,543 megawatts in the seven days to Dec. 18, data from EEX showed on Friday.

U.S. securities regulators are looking at what Bank of America (BAC.N) disclosed to shareholders as it was acquiring Merrill Lynch, including the investment bank's mounting fourth-quarter losses that eventually topped $15 billion.

Airbus parent EADS is sticking to plans to boycott a potential $50 billion competition to build a U.S. Air Force refueling fleet absent major changes in the way the winner would be picked.

France's EDF (EDF.PA) could take up to 20 percent in the underwater section of the South Stream gas pipeline bringing Russian gas to Europe and there could be other partners, one of the project leaders said.

Shares of Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc (SNSS.O) were up for the second day on Friday, after positive data from two clinical trials of its experimental cancer drug, Voreloxin, boosted investor confidence.

The new restrictions covering the most of the 26 to 100 most highly compensated employees at bailed out firms AIG, Citigroup, GM and GMAC were issued today by President Obama's Pay Czar Stephen Feinberg.

An “innovative” global tax on financial transactions should help pay for the nearly $150 billion in expenses needed by 2020 to fight climate change in developing countries, the leaders of France and the United Kingdom said on Friday.

OYO Geospace (OYOG.O), a maker of equipment used to collect seismic data, swung to a fourth-quarter loss partly on low demand, excess capacity and low utilization of rental equipment in Russia and Canada.

Diane Sawyer is changing the landscape of American broadcast television news and is likely hoping history won't repeat itself when she becomes the second woman to solo anchor a major evening news program.

German chemicals distributor Brenntag made concessions to investors to secure a loan waiver that will allow its planned initial public offering (IPO) to proceed, a banker close to the deal said.

Apple Inc said it filed a countersuit against Nokia, claiming that the Finnish cellphone maker has pursued anti-competitive business practices and infringed on more than a dozen of its patents.

In a win for the banking industry, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Friday to reject a measure that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to change the terms of mortgages for distressed homeowners.

New home prices in Canada rose 0.3 percent in October from September, the fourth consecutive gain, as record low interest rates and a recovering economy spurred demand, according to Statistics Canada data on Friday.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEHMQ.PK) is close to selling two of its real estate private equity funds to real estate investment firm PCCP, a spokeswoman for Lehman said on Friday.

Cadbury Plc (CBRY.L) will argue for its independence on Monday with a defense document set to highlight its upbeat trading and show that its valuation is way above that of Kraft Food's (KFT.N) bid, analysts said on Friday.

Shareholders of Verenex Energy Inc (VNX.TO) overwhelming approved the C$317 million ($299 million) sale of the small Canadian oil explorer on Friday to a Libyan sovereign wealth fund, ending an international takeover battle that saw Libya block a richer offer from China.

Apartment rents will begin to grow “in earnest” until the second half of 2011, according to a Reuters report of a CB Richard Ellis Econometrics Advisors forecast.

Dutch supermarket sales growth is seen at 1.5 percent in 2010, down from a projected 2.5 percent this year as cautious consumers continue to curb spending, the Dutch Food Retail Association (CBL) said