IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Firm boosted

France Telecom SA, Europe's third-largest phone company, said third-quarter sales rose 3.3 percent, boosted by the wireless business in the United Kingdom and emerging markets such as Egypt and Romania.

Sales rose to 13.5 billion euros from 13.1 billion euros a year earlier, the Paris-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

Capacity cuts

Stora Enso Oyj, Europe's biggest papermaker, said it will cut magazine, newsprint and pulp capacity as well as jobs after reporting a surprise third-quarter loss as wood costs soared and the US dollar fell.

The loss was 439.9 million euros, or 56 cents a share, from a profit of 58.9 million euros, or 7 cents, a year earlier, Helsinki-based Stora said yesterday in a stock exchange statement.

New boss

Bank of America Corp, making good on a vow to curtail investment banking after the unit's profit plunged 93 percent, put a new manager in charge and announced 3,000 job cuts.

Brian Moynihan, head of wealth management at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company, will succeed Gene Taylor as head of the 20,000-person division, according to a statement on Wednesday. Most of the jobs will be cut from the investment bank, a spokesman said.

Santander climbs

Banco Santander SA, the lender that bought ABN Amro Holding NV's banks in Brazil and Italy, said profit rose 22 percent in the third quarter on higher loan revenue in Spain, its home market.

Net income increased to 2.11 billion euros from 1.73 billion euros a year earlier, the Santander, northern Spain-based bank said yesterday in a regulatory filing.

EasyJet goes shopping

EasyJet Plc, Europe's second- biggest discount airline, said it agreed to buy GB Airways Ltd for 103.5 million pounds in cash to add routes in southern Europe and North Africa.

The acquisition from Bland Group Ltd excludes GB's slots at London Heathrow Airport, Luton, England-based EasyJet said yesterday in a Regulatory News Service statement.

Indian accord

Daimler AG, the world's largest truckmaker, has reached an agreement with a partner in India to jointly produce heavy trucks in the world's second-most populous nation.

"We have found a partner and we will make an announcement very soon," said Andreas Renschler, who heads the division, in an interview in Tokyo yesterday, without elaborating. "If you move into these markets you have to locally produce things."

Generali warned

Assicurazioni Generali SpA, Italy's biggest insurer, must improve corporate governance and revise its compensation plan for top executives to increase shareholder returns, an investor said.

Generali only delivers about 60 percent of its potential earnings, Algebris Investments, the hedge fund founded last year by Eric Halet and Davide Serra, said yesterday in a letter to Generali's managers. Achieving targets set for 2009 will only raise that to 75 percent, Algebris said.

Less confident

German business confidence slipped for the sixth month in October, as companies in the eurozone's biggest economy took a somewhat dimmer view of the six-month outlook, a key survey showed yesterday.

The widely watched business climate index, calculated each month by the Munich-based economic research institute Ifo, fell to 103.9 points from 104.2 points in September, Ifo said.

Bloomberg News-AFP

(China Daily 10/26/2007 page16)