COMPANIES

Leading U.S. retailers had a mixed March, with discount and wholesale retailers reporting better sales in March than higher priced department stores and specialty retailers as shoppers face a slowing U.S. economy which may already be in a mild recession.

American Airlines scrapped another 900 flights from take off on Thursday, pushing the total to 2,400 of canceled flights this week, as it continues to fix faulty wiring in hundreds of jets.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has cut 200 jobs this week in parts of its debt and investment banking units most affected by the economic slowdown.

Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), owners of the Harvester chain of restaurants has given a half year trading update for the 27 weeks ended 5 April 2008.

A chemical used in manufacturing rubber was found in a Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. antibiotic stored in ReadyMED pumps made by Cardinal Health Inc., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday.

HBO named Sue Naegle as president of HBO Entertainment, in a bid to give the channel an overhaul after a lackluster year of programming.

Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday it will recall about 539,500 Corolla and Matrix vehicles sold in the U.S. from defects in window glass, while nearly 630,000 minivans will be recalled in Japan.

Morley Fund Management, the asset management division of UK's largest insurer Aviva PLc, said Wednesday that it has signed a China joint venture agreement with China National Oils & Foodstuffs & Cereals Corp.(COFCO) Ltd and Dongguan Trust & Investment Co Ltd.

WellPoint Inc., the largest health insurer by membership in the U.S, reported yesterday that personal data of about 128,000 of its customers was exposed online over the past year.

Merril Lynch will likely write down between $6 billion and $6.5 billion linked to several types of debt, senior company executives said, according to a report.

American Airlines continued to cancel flights on Wednesday, pushing the number to 1,000 flights, or nearly half of its schedule, leaving thousands of passenger schedules disrupted and putting pressure on the airlines finances. American and Delta canceled more than 700 flights March 26 and 27 for the earlier round of MD-80 inspections as the FAA tightened scrutiny of airline-industry maintenance.

Ford Motor Co China has posted a 47 percent year-over-year increase gain in first-quarter sales, with 90,791 vehicles sold, continuing the company's strong growth in China market.

Entertainment Rights Plc, owner of the rights to Postman Pat and Basil Brush has reported a booming year with annual profits for 2007 up 45 per cent to £12.6 million.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has said that it has asked the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to consider taking action against budget airline Ryanair for misleading consumers in its adverts and for unwillingness to comply with ASA rulings

The Nationwide Building Society has released the results of a survey which show that consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level in four years last month.

Shares of Citigroup rose in early trading on Monday after reports yesterday said the largest U.S. bank by assets was close to selling about $12 billion in leveraged loans and bonds to a group of private equity companies.

American Airlines canceled 850 more flights on Wednesday as it re-inspects the wiring on its MD-80 jets, stranding thousands of passengers and putting pressure on the airlines finances. The cancellations at the world's largest airline began late Tuesday afternoon, when American canceled 500 flights.

Pfizer Inc. said on Wednesday clinical studies of its insulin drug Exubera found increased cases of lung cancer, leading developer Nektar to abandon the troubled product.

Boeing Co. announced the third major delay in six months of its 787 Dreamliner on Wednesday, blaming it on assembly delays and further supply problems, and said delivery is now almost 15 months behind schedule.

Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL), an equal joint venture between state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Oman Oil Co., is set to raise about Rs.2400 crore ($600 million) by tapping the primary market as well as through a pre-IPO placement, to part finance a Rs.10,400 crore ($2.6 billion) refinery project at Bina, Madhya Pradesh.

Coca-Cola Inc. is set to invest about Rs.1000 crore ($250 million) in India over the next three years to keep pace with its rival PepsiCo Inc., which presently dominates the local $1.75 billion soft drinks market.

Standard & Poors Ratings Services, downgraded its credit ratings for four mortgage insurers late Tuesday citing a weaker than expected housing market and rising unemployment.

Shares of First Marblehead Corp., a student-loan company, fell sharply on Tuesday a day after its loan insurer filed for bankruptcy.

Kinetic Concepts Inc. which elaborates products to heal wounds agreed to buy $1.7 billion in cash for LifeCell Corp. to expand the diversity of its products.

China's domestic automobile market increased in March as the impact of snowstorm weakened. The domestic car sales in first quarter increased by 22.52 percent as compared with the same period last year, to reach 1.37 million totally.

Capital One Financial Corp. will cut 750 U.K. jobs by the end of the year, it told employees on Monday.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA Inc., a unit of Tokyo-based Konica Minolta Holdings Inc., said Tuesday it has agreed to buy a subsidiary of Danka Business Systems PLC, in a deal valued at $240 million.

Chattem Inc. reported its adjusted net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 year was $20 million, and earnings per share were $1.01 surpassing forecasts of 95 cents per share.

BT Group has announced that the head of BT Retail will be succeeding Ben Verwaayen as chief executive of the group on 1 June 2008. Verwaayen is to leave the board of BT completely on 30 June.