COMPANIES

Seoul shares are set to fall on Tuesday after big overnight losses on Wall Street on worseningfears about U.S. financials after insurer AIG posted a record quarterly loss, with eyes also on the sliding won.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Monday it aimed to boost its market share in Europe to 6% in 2009 from 5.3% last year, although it expects industry-wide sales in the region to decline by nearly 30% to 15 million vehicles.

Allied Irish Bank, Ireland's biggest lender said Monday its pre-tax profit fell 62 % last year totaling $1.3 billion (1.0 billion Euros) due to unprecedented trading conditions, according to Agency-France press reports.

Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc., the third largest U.S. fast-food chain, said Monday it posted a quarterly loss of nearly $400 million due to recent negative trends in operating performance, the downturn in the economy and adverse stock market conditions.

Auto sales likely hovered around 27-year lows in February as consumers mostly stayed away from buying big-ticket items, spooked by job losses, the deep recession and tight credit.

Wyeth has won approval to sell its top-selling pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar in Russia and expects to launch the product there later this year, the U.S. drugmaker said on Monday.

Bank Hapoalim, Israel's largest bank in terms of assets, reassured investors on Monday they would receive interest payments on deferred capital notes that had been downgraded by the Standard & Poor's Maalot ratings agency.

Brazil's benchmark stock index plunged 3%in early afternoon trade on Monday, tracking a sell-off in global markets on concerns the financial crisis is deepening after insurer American International Group posted a record quarterly loss.

International Paper Co. slashed its quarterly dividend by 90 percent to 2.5 cents on Monday to save about $100 million a year and use the extra cash to pay the debt.

America's largest automaker has been left dependent on the kindness of strangers -- its fate in the hands of bureaucrats as much as car buyers.

HSBC launched a 12.5 billion pound ($17.7 billion) rights issue on Monday to shore up its balance sheet after annual profit more than halved and as bad debts soared in the United States.

Shares of Sony Corp outperformed those of its rivals in a sliding market on Monday, as CEO Howard Stringer's move to directly oversee the electronics arm at the center of the firm's problems raised investor hopes for speedier restructuring.

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, will not renew the contracts of all its 16,500 temporary workers this year in response to the brutal knock-down effects of the economic downturn on the car industry, Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said.

British banking giant HSBC will try to raise $18 billion to quell investor concerns as a worsening global economy punished famed investor Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway with a 96 percent plunge in profits.

Citigroup plans to overhaul its board as part of a capital-boosting deal with the U.S. government, but the banking giant may struggle to find qualified people willing to join as directors.

U.S. stocks dipped on Friday as a move by the U.S. government to take a large common equity stake in embattled Citigroup sowed more uncertainty over the fate of banks and grim economic data weighed on trading.

Portugal's leading highway operator Brisa (BRI.LS) posted a fourth-quarter net profit of 41.8 million euros ($52.98 million) on Friday, 64 percent below its year-ago net profit, but exceeding market expectations.

Motorola Inc (MOT.N) sees industry cellphone sales increasing in the mid-single-digit percentage range next year and in 2011, driven by first time buyers in emerging markets and upgrades to new models by existing users.

Portugal's state-run bank Caixa Geral de Depositos on Thursday posted a 46 percent fall in 2008 net profit.

Visa Inc, the world's largest credit card network, said on Thursday that processed transactions kept growing at high single-digit rates in January, despite a global economic slowdown.

Ford Motor Co, which has not sought U.S. government emergency aid, said on Thursday it has adequate liquidity amid worsening industry conditions and has no doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.

Fashion sales fell victim to consumer cutbacks during the holidays and no respite is in sight this year, but upscale store chain Saks Inc and off-price retailer TJX Cos Inc signaled to investors they were working hard to weather the storm.

Norwegian seismic surveyor Global Geo Services (GGS) (GGS.OL), a supplier to the oil and gas industry, said on Wednesday a U.S.-based energy firm had shown interest in its survey offshore Iran.

Car dealer Heidi Hetzer has fought chauvinism as a female mechanic and triumphed in dozens of motor rallies, but the 71-year-old Berliner says the auto crisis is proving to be the toughest test of her life.

The board of Telecom Italia Media (TCM.MI) is expected to consider on Thursday whether to merge its Apcom news agency with two other news agencies within a new holding company

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) reported a 27 drop in quarterly profit on Wednesday as Canada's second-largest lender more than doubled its provisions for bad loans.

Chocolate eating is on the rise in the current economic slowdown, while chewing gum is suffering, according to British confectionery giant Cadbury Plc.

Microsoft Corp outlined plans to offset revenue declines as the PC market shifts to low-cost netbooks, but it failed to announce more cost cuts, sending its shares to an 11-year low.

Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said the largest U.S. bank does not need more federal aid and is in better shape than most rivals, even as rumors, innuendo and falsehoods cause its stock to fall.