PARIS (AFP) – French retail giant Carrefour rebounded into profitability in the first of the year, posting Tuesday a net profit of 82 million euros (104 million dollars). For the same period of last year, the giant international group had reported a loss of 58 million euros. “Carrefour posted solid growth in sales and operating [Continue]

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan’s finance minister said Friday he was closely watching currency markets as a stubbornly strong yen threatens the country’s export-led recovery from recession. [Continue]

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Hewlett-Packard (HP) on Thursday reported profit rose in the recently-ended quarter, the computer giant’s last with Mark Hurd at the helm. HP reported net earnings of 1.77 billion dollars, or 75 cents per share, on revenue of 30.7 billion dollars in the quarter that ended July 31. [Continue]

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Dell on Thursday reported that its second-quarter profit climbed to 545 million dollars on surging demand for computer hardware. The Texas-based computer company earned 28 cents per share in the quarter that ended July 30, a jump of nearly 16 percent from the same period a year earlier. [Continue]

SHANGHAI (AFP) – China Life and two other Chinese investors have withdrawn from bidding for stakes in American International Group’s Asian unit ahead of its planned initial public offering, state media said Friday. China Life, the nation’s largest life insurer, had planned to jointly bid for AIA shares with private conglomerate [Continue]

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Internet research firm eMarketer on Thursday reported that advertisers are flocking to Facebook and will spend more than a billion dollars at the world’s top online social network. “Brand advertisers are making Facebook a core buy,” said eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson. “Ad spending [Continue]

MIAMI (AFP) – A US court of appeals said Germany can be sued by Florida investors seeking reimbursement for post World War I reconstruction bonds that Adolf Hitler stopped paying in the 1930s, a lawyer for the plaintiffs told AFP. “The court decided that the complaint filed against Germany can proceed to discovery and that [Continue]

LONDON (AFP) – British satellite broadcaster BSkyB confirmed on Wednesday it was locked in a dispute with Skype about the Internet phone company’s use of the “Sky” part of its name. The five-year battle only came to light when Skype filed documents this week ahead of a proposed 100 million dollar (78 million euro) flotation [Continue]