COMPANIES

U.S. regulators have been negotiating until the last minute on highly anticipated guidelines for private equity investments in distressed banks.

Digital China Holdings recorded a profit attributable to equity holders of approximately HK $262 million or HK 27.24 cents per share for the three months ended June 30, up 130% compared with a year ago.

The U.S. Energy Department will award $300 million to a clean cities program to help communities buy alternative fuel vehicles, Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Wednesday.

The German government signaled on Wednesday that talks between Berlin and General Motors over the fate of its European unit Opel are threatening to drag on, raising the specter of insolvency again.

Dongfeng Motor Group (0489.HK), China's No.3 carmaker, said it expects the domestic market to grow an average 15 percent over each of the next three years, fueled by strong appetites among an emerging middle class.

Last November, General Motors was burning cash on a fast-track to failure and desperate to cut any deal to save itself and its German unit Opel.

IBM (IBM.N) and India's top three outsourcing firms have each won five-year IT services contract from oil and gas major BP Plc (BP.L), the firms said on Wednesday, amid hopes of a revival in technology spending. Neither IBM nor the Indian firms, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.BO), Infosys Technologies (INFY.BO) (INFY.O) and Wipro (WIPR.BO) (WIT.N), disclosed financial details of the contract.

The U.S. thrift industry on Wednesday reported its first profit since the third quarter of 2007, earning a slender total of $4 million in the second quarter, the Office of Thrift Supervision said.

The U.S. thrift industry reported on Wednesday its first profit since the third quarter of 2007, earning a slender total of $4 million in the second quarter, the Office of Thrift Supervision said.

A consortium of South Korean and Indian companies is to invest $5.6 billion in producing natural gas in Burma for export by pipeline to China, the Times reported on Tuesday.

Fannie Mae (FNM.N) (FNM.P), the largest U.S. home funding source, said on Wednesday it sold $2.0 billion in bills at lower interest rates than those seen in sales of the same maturities and sizes a week ago.

Dollar Tree Inc reported a better-than-expected 51 percent jump in quarterly profit on Wednesday and boosted its full-year profit forecast, as customers flocked to its stores for inexpensive food, cleaning supplies and toys.

Brazil's second-largest beef exporter, Bertin, may sell stock in an initial public offering as it looks to raise cash and fund future investments, Valor Economico newspaper reported on Wednesday, quoting a company director.

Gazprom, the world's biggest gas company, saw net profit fall in the first quarter, when it paid more for Central Asian gas and incurred foreign exchange losses, but was tipped to bounce back in the rest of 2009.

Larger-than-expected gains in U.S. housing prices and consumer confidence on Tuesday lent new weight to views that the economy is emerging from the longest recession since the 1930s.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Japan's biggest heavy-machinery maker, on Wednesday said it plans to start mass-production of industrial-use lithium-ion batteries in late 2012.

South Africa's largest property and casualty insurer Santam Ltd expects underwriting margins to remain under pressure in the second half after a rise in high-value property fire claims hit first-half returns.

SAIC Motor Corp, China's biggest automaker, posted a 26.4 percent fall in first half earnings on provisions for its loss-making South Korean unit but was cautiously optimistic for the rest of the year as government policy initiatives bolstered automobile demand.

China Life Insurance Co, the country's top life insurer, said it is studying possible investments involving IPO candidates Agricultural Bank of China and AIA, aiming to improve its returns.

Sino Gold Mining Ltd will make an announcement on a potential takeover transaction, it said on Wednesday, amid market talk that Canada's Eldorado Gold Corp could be a bidder.

Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp's 1,166-megawatt Wolf Creek 1 reactor in Kansas was at 92 percent power early Wednesday, up from 48 percent of capacity early Tuesday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in A power reactor status report.

Progress Energy Inc's (PGN.N) 838-megawatt Crystal River 3 nuclear power unit in Florida was at 17 percent power early Wednesday as it began to exit a recent outage, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its power reactor status report.

U.S. regulators are set to buttress their defenses this week against a slew of sick banks still facing closure and the risks to the dwindling fund that protects depositors.

India's Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN hope to finalize by mid-September a deal that could lead to a full merger, with the Indian firm adding another adviser and getting closer to lining up loans, three sources said.

Dutch bancassurer ING is expecting final bids for its Asian and Swiss private banking assets within the latter part of the next week, sources familiar with the sale said on Wednesday.

Japan's NEC Electronics Corp and Renesas Technology may receive a $2.1 billion bailout from their parent companies to bring about the merger of the two loss-making chipmakers in a sector wracked by weak demand and prices, the Nikkei business daily said.

Edward Kennedy dies at 77; Exit Strategy a Must; Toyota retreats

U.S. mortgage applications rose for a second straight week, with demand for home refinancing loans rising to its highest level since early June, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

IBM (IBM.N) has been awarded a five-year application services contract by oil and gas firm BP (BP.L), the U.S. technology major said in a statement on Wednesday.