November 18, 2013
EU warns Spain and Italy over their budget
The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, has warned Spain and Italy that their draft budgets for 2014 may not comply with new debt and deficit rules. It also said French and Dutch plans only just passed muster. Non-complying…
November 18, 2013
EnQuest cleared to develop £4bn Kraken oil field
A £4bn investment in a major oil field off Shetland has been given the go-ahead. The Kraken field, which is estimated to contain nearly 140m barrels of oil, is majority-owned by Aberdeen-based EnQuest. The construction phase of the project is…
November 13, 2013
Starbucks to pay $3bn in row over packaged coffee
An independent US arbitrator has told Starbucks to pay $2.76bn (£1.74bn) in damages and other costs to Kraft Foods in a dispute over packaged coffee. Kraft began selling bags of Starbucks branded coffee in 1998 under a deal that was due to run…
November 13, 2013
American Airlines and US Airways settle merger suit
American Airlines and US Airways have settled an anti-trust suit with US regulators, paving the way for their proposed merger to be finalised. The merger would create the world's largest airline. As part of the agreement, which must still be…
November 13, 2013
Singapore Airlines profits jump almost 80%
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has reported a 78% rise in net profit for its second quarter. Asia's second biggest carrier was boosted by the sale of aircraft, spare engines as well as increased passenger traffic. The firm posted a total net profit of…
November 13, 2013
Eike Batista-owned OSX files for bankruptcy
A second company controlled by the Brazilian former billionaire Eike Batista has filed for bankruptcy protection. Shipbuilding firm OSX Brasil made the filing in a Rio de Janeiro court less than two weeks after its sister oil company, OGX, also…
November 13, 2013
Apple and Samsung back in court over patent damages
Apple and Samsung are returning to court in one of the most high-profile patent battles of recent times. In August 2012, a jury found Samsung guilty of infringing six Apple patents and awarded one of the largest payouts of its kind on record. The…
November 12, 2013
PepsiCo makes big investment in India
PepsiCo, the US food and drinks giant behind the Pepsi-Cola, Walkers Crisps and Tropicana brands, is to invest $5.5bn (£3.4bn) in India by 2020. The company said it planned to expand the range of products it sells in the country, and increase its…
November 10, 2013
France’s credit rating cut by S&P to AA
Standard and Poor's (S&P) has cut France's credit rating to AA from AA+. The moves comes almost two years after the country lost its top-rated AAA status. S&P said it downgraded France because high unemployment in the country was making it…
November 10, 2013
US job creation stronger in October
The US economy added a better-than-expected 204,000 jobs in October, according to the latest figures from the Labor Department. There had been fears that the 16-day shutdown of government services last month could have hit jobs growth. The monthly…