COMPANIES

Citigroup flagged its interest in buying a bank in Germany on Tuesday but played down recent talk that it was about to swoop on Commerzbank.

Nissan Motor Co. announced on Monday that it will spend £2.4 million ($4.8 million) to ramp up production capacity for its Qashqai crossover sport-utility vehicles at its Sunderland plant in the U.K.

Cadbury Schweppes Plc, the world's largest confectionery group, plans to cut 7,500 jobs and close around ten plants as it seeks to catch up with the profitability of U.S. rivals after the sale of its drinks arm.

Airbus racked up a series of big orders at the opening Monday of the world's biggest air show, stealing some early limelight from U.S. rival Boeing Co.

Italian airline Alitalia's shares on Monday fell to a 2007 low on worries its sale by Rome may collapse after one of the two final bidders, Russia's Aeroflot, expressed concern about the price tag.

Lehman Brothers's lagging stock price offers the chance to buy into a rising power as it seeks to join the company of larger investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, Barron's reported in its June 18 edition.

The 47th Paris air show opens on Monday with France-based planemaker Airbus expected to announce major deals from Middle East-based airlines as it seeks to make up ground on sales by U.S. rival Boeing Co.

General Electric Co. and Pearson Plc may challenge News Corp.'s $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co., with a plan that could let Dow Jones's controlling Bancroft family keep an interest in the company, the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal reported on their Web sites on Sunday.

London-based private-equity firm BC Partners was in the lead to purchase satellite operator Intelsat Ltd. for about $5 billion plus the assumption of about $11.5 billion in debt, The Wall Street Journal Online reported.

The head of Boeing Co.'s commercial aircraft unit on Sunday backed a call by rival Airbus to work closely on producing more environmentally friendly planes, but said real progress was the responsibility of jet engine makers, rather than plane builders.

Bigger is becoming better.

Financial Times publisher Pearson Plc. is seeking partners to make a possible bid for Wall Street Journal owner Dow Jones & Co. Inc., the Journal reported on its Web site on Friday.

General Motors Corp. said on Friday it is accelerating its hydrogen fuel cell program, shifting work from laboratory to engineering groups that aim to develop the technology for mass production.

The control of a reorganized and potentially profitable U.S. auto parts maker Delphi Corp. may come down to a fight between its two largest shareholders.

They may not be blaming him for making their lives more difficult -- yet. But rivals at private equity firms sure wish that Stephen Schwarzman, the founder and CEO of buyout firm The Blackstone Group, would get his name off the front pages.

Cadbury Schweppes Plc, the world's largest confectionery group, pleaded guilty on Friday to charges of selling unsafe chocolate in Britain and Ireland during 2006 and faces an unlimited fine.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. are learning that it's a tough time to be in the U.S. mortgage business. Both banks suffered from rising home buyer defaults in the latest quarter.

Volkswagen's Audi premium unit aims to raise sales in the United States to 200,000 vehicles by 2015 from last year's 90,000, Audi's sales and marketing boss told a German newspaper.

Qatar's royal family raised its stake in Britain's J. Sainsbury Plc to 25 percent, boosting the supermarket operator's shares amid expectations it will come under renewed pressure to raise billions through a property selloff.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. barely managed to show a rise in quarterly profit as a sharp drop in fixed income trading revenue offset record investment banking fees and strong equities income.

Planemakers are riding high on surging demand that has pushed orders well over $100 billion a year, but cracks are beginning to show and the sprawling Paris air show which opens on Monday could reveal a slowdown looms.

Investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. Inc., one of the nation's largest mortgage bond underwriters, said on Thursday quarterly earnings fell by a third as trouble in the mortgage market hurt bond trading revenue and it wrote down assets at a stock trading venture.

Del Monte Foods Co., maker of Meow Mix cat food, StarKist tuna and its own canned fruits, on Thursday posted a drop in quarterly profit, hit by higher costs for some items and lower seafood sales volumes.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. on Thursday said counterfeit 'Colgate' toothpaste that may contain a toxic chemical had been found in discount stores in four U.S. states.

Liberty Media Corp. and EchoStar Communications Corp. are preparing a joint offer for satellite-communications provider Intelsat Ltd., The Wall Street Journal's online edition said on Thursday.

Sanofi-Aventis shares suffered their biggest fall since 2002 after a U.S. health panel advised against approving its weight-loss pill Acomplia over concerns it may be linked to thoughts of suicide.

General Motors Corp. and bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi Corp. are near a deal with the United Auto Workers union that would provide a cash payout to Delphi workers in exchange for lower hourly wages, the Detroit News reported on Thursday.

Little-known, privately held Hyperion Resources Inc. said on Wednesday it plans to build an $8 billion oil refinery, the first in the United States since 1976, at one of several sites under consideration in the U.S. Midwest.

The three big Detroit automakers will seek unprecedented concessions from the United Auto Workers union (UAW) in contract negotiations, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Thursday, citing auto executives.