IN BRIEF (Page 16)

On the brink

Alitalia SpA, which loses more than $1.6 million a day, moved closer to bankruptcy after Air France-KLM Group broke off takeover talks, scuttling a 15-month effort by Italy to find a buyer for the airline.

Air France ended the talks three hours before a midnight deadline, rejecting counter proposals by Alitalia's unions in Rome that the carrier said were "incompatible" with its offer. Italian Finance Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa said yesterday Alitalia likely would have to seek protection from creditors if the Air France bid failed.

Moss Bros loss

Moss Bros Group Plc, the UK suit retailer that may be bought by Baugur Group Hf, reported an annual loss on increased competition from supermarkets.

The net loss was 1.35 million pounds, or 1.44 pence a share, in the year ended Jan 26, compared with a profit of 3.2 million pounds, or 3.4 pence, a year earlier, the London-based company said yesterday.

Not so sweet

Barry Callebaut AG, the world's biggest bulk chocolate maker, said first-half profit fell 0.2 percent on costs of raw materials and opening plants in Russia and China.

Net income in the six months through February fell to 124.4 million Swiss francs ($123 million), from 124.7 million francs in the year-earlier period, the Zurich-based company said yesterday.

Generali eyes expansion

Assicurazioni Generali SpA, Italy's biggest insurer, plans to get as much as 30 percent of its premiums from emerging markets in 10 years, Co-Chief Executive Officer Sergio Balbinot said in an interview with Il Giornale newspaper.

Continental Europe accounts for 90 percent of Generali's premiums at the moment and the rest come from emerging markets, Balbinot told the newspaper.

Toshiba climbs

Shares in Japan's Toshiba Corp to a five-week high after it said on Thursday it is close to winning orders to build four nuclear reactors in the United States, estimated to be worth a total of $14 billion.

Reactor makers are riding on a boom in nuclear power plant construction in the United States, helped by financial incentives and growing fears about global warming. By 2010, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects to see as many as 33 applications to build reactors.

Lloyd's leaps

Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance market, said 2007 profit rose 5.2 percent, helped by a low level of catastrophe claims.

Pre-tax profit increased to a record 3.85 billion pounds from 3.66 billion pounds a year earlier, the London-based market said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. It didn't provide net income figures.

Possible return

Galeries Lafayette SA, the French department store owned by the Moulin family, may return to the stock market "some day", Les Echos said, citing an interview with Chairman Philippe Houze.

The Moulin family and BNP Paribas SA bought out Galeries Lafayette in 2005. The family holding company acquired half of BNP Paribas's 37.2 percent stake in July, and will buy the remainder in coming months, Houze told Les Echos.

Coal mine contract

Leighton Holdings Ltd, Australia's largest construction company, won a A$1 billion ($914 million) order to develop and operate a coal mine in India for 20 years.

Leighton, a subsidiary of Germany's Hochtief AG, will immediately start work at the Chitarpur coal project in Jharkhand state, the Sydney-based company said yesterday in a statement. The open-cut mine will start output in October 2009 and produce 115 million metric tons of coal over its 20-year life, Leighton said.

Agencies

(China Daily 04/04/2008 page16)