COMPANIES

Two Boston groups offered early bids on Thursday to buy the Boston Globe from The New York Times Co, the Globe reported on Friday

British Airways said on Friday it saw no improvement in bleak trading conditions and vowed to continue to cut costs, rounding off another miserable week for Europe's airlines.

British Airways said on Friday it had cut operating costs by around 6.6 percent since last October as it fights to slim down during the downturn, but it had seen no signs of improvement in trading conditions.

British Airways has cut operating costs by around 6.6 percent since last October as it fights to slim down during the downturn, while its debt-pile also fell slightly to 2.3 billion pounds ($3.79 billion).

Eyeing a better price, U.S. auto maker Ford Motor Co is slowing down the bidding process for its Volvo car unit, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person close to the company.

Sony Corp posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, helped by an improvement in its struggling flat TV business, and said it was aiming to beat its official forecast and at least break even for the full year.

After spinning off Madison Square Garden, Cablevision Systems Corp should sell its Rainbow Networks cable channels to Comcast Corp and then buy Time Warner Cable Inc's New York operations, said influential shareholder Mario Gabelli.

U.S. mail service provider Pitney Bowes Inc slashed its full-year forecasts and posted weaker-than-expected quarterly results.

The Walt Disney Co. on Thursday reported earnings for the third fiscal quarter, with net income declining 26 percent and revenues down 7 percent.

Walt Disney Co posted a 26 percent plunge in quarterly earnings as sales fell sharply at its media networks and theme parks, sending its shares nearly 3 percent lower.

The Walt Disney Co posted a 26 percent lower profit on Thursday as the global economic woes pulled down operating profits by double digits at its powerhouse media networks and theme parks.

Southwest Airlines Co. has submitted a bid worth at least $113.6 million to acquire Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc under a bankruptcy auction, the companies said today.

Karl-Georg Altenburg, head of JP Morgan's German business, said he expects companies to learn from the financial crisis and aim for a stronger capital base in the longer term, according to a German paper.

A U.S. judge ruled on Thursday that auto parts maker Delphi Corp (DPHIQ.PK) can sell itself to a group of lenders, paving the way for the company to end its near four-year trip through bankruptcy court.

Bank holding company Pacific Capital Bancorp, posted a $362.6 million quarterly loss as provision for loan losses quadrupled, and said it was evaluating strategic alternatives, sending its shares down as much as 23 percent.

Mining group Xstrata Plc, due to post sharply lower first-half profits next week, is expected to hold back from using the occasion to launch a new initiative in its wooing of Anglo American.

Bank of America Corp plans to set up a wholly owned subsidiary in China to expand in the world's fastest-growing major economy, people briefed on the plan said.

Boeing Co said on Thursday that it completed the acquisition of a facility that makes part of the fuselage of its delayed 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

A member of the German government's Opel Task Force told Reuters on Thursday that negotiations between General Motors GM.UL and the two competing bidders for Opel could drag on longer than expected.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is discussing with U.S. health officials the possibility of putting vaccination sites at some of its stores for an H1N1 swine flu inoculation campaign this fall, a company official said on Thursday.

Cablevision Systems Corp plans to spin off its Madison Square Garden unit by the end of the year, hoping to get a better valuation from Wall Street for assets including the New York Knicks basketball team and Radio City Music Hall.

General Electric Co shares climbed more than 7 percent on Thursday after a powerful U.S. lawmaker said he saw no great need for the largest U.S. conglomerate to spin off its finance arm.

The corporate bond market is signaling trouble ahead for those U.S. regional banks that are facing rising loan losses from commercial real estate.

The Federal Reserve seems to be volunteering to be top bubble burster. In a recent speech, Bill Dudley, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,

U.S. banks' losses from loans to homebuilders should start to taper off in about six months, a Standard & Poor's analyst said on Wednesday.

U.S. mortgage applications fell for the first time in four weeks, driven by a drop in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates climbed, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

U.S. mortgage rates rose for a second consecutive week as Treasury yields climbed, a move that does not bode well for the hard-hit U.S. housing market.

Canada's Cyberplex Inc, a provider of web advertising solutions, said its offer to buy Burst Media Corp for $16.5 million was rejected by the U.S.-based online advertising firm's board.

Cablevision Systems Corp said on Thursday its board approved a spinoff of its Madison Square Garden (MSG) unit by year-end, in hopes of a better valuation from Wall Street for assets such as its New York Knicks basketball team and Radio City Music Hall.