COMPANIES

Time Warner Inc. Chairman Richard Parsons said Friday he will likely step down at the end of the year, a opening the door for Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bewkes to take over the position at the world's biggest media company, according to a media report.

British Airways said on Friday that its profit more than doubled in the fiscal year ending March 31.

Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage finance company, will end its practice of requiring larger down payments in areas where home prices are falling.

General Electric confirmed Friday that the nation's economic slowdown is prompting it to get out of the appliance business.

Shares of major U.S. financial institutions were mixed on Friday as the broader market advanced on easing fears of poor market liquidity.

The finance arm of Ford Motor Co. plans to sell $5.3 billion of car-loan bonds as investor demand increases for asset-backed securities, according Bloomberg.

BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, rose to a record on Friday after a report that Chinese interests would like to make a joint bid with another investor to buy 9 percent of the mining company.

CLS Holdings said on Thursday that it had made property sales of £47.4 million in the period from 1 January to 14 May this year. The company added that the leasing market remained stable and that it had lower vacancy rates in the period.

Luxury retailer Nordstrom Inc. said Thursday its profit fell 24 percent in the first quarter, hurt by lower sales in what the company called a challenging retail environment.

Berkshire Hathaway, billionaire Warren Buffett's investment company, sold its stake in Ameriprise Financial earlier this year, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc., the carriers that broke off merger talks last month, have revived talks about a possible alliance to help the companies to set pricing and schedules, according to media reports.

Mentor Corp. a developer and manufacturer of medical products for the aesthetic market reported on Thursday its quarterly profit fell on rising costs.

Johnson & Johnson reported it was recalling certain Doxil, Procrit and Remicade drugs with specific lot numbers that matched products stolen earlier this month.

Kohl's Corp, the fourth largest U.S. retailer, said its first quarter profit fell 27 percent as the company faced a difficult economic environment.

J. C. Penny Co. reported that its first-quarter profit fell by 50 percent on lower consumer spending and it forecast a similar profit drop for its current quarter.

Blackstone Group, the private equity firm which went public last year, reported a first-quarter loss on Thursday.

APP Pharmaceuticals Inc., a major supplier of Heparin, will increase prices of the treatment due to rising costs in raw material, testing and additional personnel costs, the company announced today.

Supermarket giant Tesco said on Wednesday that it acquired 36 Homever stores in South Korea from the E-Land Group for £958 million, including existing debt.

J Sainsbury said on Wednesday that its total retail sales for the full year to 22 March 2008 had risen 5.8 per cent to £19,287 million. The supermarket chain said that like for like sales were up 3.9 per cent.

Comcast agreed to purchase Plaxo the first innovative system that developed social networks from address books. With the acquisition of Plaxo, Comcast plans to provide its consumers social network links across all its devices including wireless, TVs and digital video recorders.

Bayer AG plans to recall the remaining supplies of its drug Trasylol for blood clotting from the U.S. market according to the Food and Drug Administration.

MedAssets Inc. reported on Wednesday its first-quarter profit surpassed analyst's expectations.

Nissan Motor Co. is planning to raise its vehicle prices in Japan in a bid to pass along higher raw-material costs, according to a Japanese media report.

General Electric Co. is considering selling or divesting itself of its appliances business, the Wall Street Journal said on its website late Wednesday.

Delta Air Lines said Wednesday its pilots had cleared merger plans with Northwest Airlines, removing a possible hurdle of labor disruptions and allowing the companies to create the largest US carrier.

Geron Corp. the developer of biopharmaceuticals for cancer and chronic degenerative diseases treatments said U.S. regulators put a clinical hold to its investigational cell therapy for spinal cord injury.

Ford Motor Co. is recalling about 50,000 Ford F-150 and Lincoln Mark LT pickup trucks in Canada due to a problem that can cause the vehicles to lose braking power.

A Texas appeals court overturned a verdict of $7.75 million against Merck & Co. related to the painkiller Vioxx.

Clear Channel Communications Inc. and the banks that agreed to finance its highly leveraged buy-out were able to enter into a settlement agreement ending lawsuit proceedings previously filed in New York State Supreme Court and Bexar County District Court.