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US recovery: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the IMF, ruled out a “double dip” recession in the US once the stimulus spending runs out, and said that the world economy was perking up.
European GDP: The eurozone exited the recession in the third quarter, according to new figures which report a 0.4 per cent increase in gross domestic product for the period.
Consumer confidence: The Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of US consumer sentiment unexpectedly decreased to 66 in November from 70.6 in October.
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German GDP: Germany’s gross domestic product increased by 0.7 per cent in the third quarter, slightly below the consensus forecast for an 0.8 per cent rise, according to the Federal Statistics Office.
Sterling: The pound rose as much as 1.6 per cent to $1.6671 as the planned merger of British Airways and Iberia spurred speculation the economy is improving, boosting demand for the currency.
US deficit: The American trade deficit jumped by 18 per cent to $36.5 billion (£21.8 billion) in September, from August, according to official figures.
French recession: The French economy grew by 0.3 per cent in the third quarter, only half the rate of the expected increase in gross domestic product, according to the Insee statistics institute.
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UBS: A former employee of UBS has been fined £35,000 by the Financial Services Authority, the City regulator, for his part in illegal trading that resulted in an £8 million penalty for the Swiss bank. Andrew Cumming, a former client adviser at one of the bank’s London branches, helped to document false loans that were used to conceal losses.
Bernard Madoff: Two computer programmers who worked for the convicted fraudster were arrested for assisting in the $65 billion (£38 billion) Ponzi scheme. Jerome O’Hara and George Perez face criminal charges of conspiracy, and falsifying books and records of a broker dealer and investment adviser.
Kenmore Property: Directors of the property developer that fell into the hands of administrators owing at least £700 million to Lloyds Banking Group, are planning a management buyout of parts of the group. Kenmore has £1.8 billion of assets under management. Page 74
Commercial property: Values in the sector recorded their biggest monthly increase for almost four years in October, rising by 1.9 per cent over the month, according to the Investment Property Databank. It is the third consecutive monthly increase and brings the annual capital growth to -10.5 per cent.
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House building: A sharp decline in planning applications for housing developments this year has led to fears of a shortage of properties and steeper house-price increases. Figures show that the number of applications has fallen by 50 per cent since January. Page 74
Rexam: The world’s biggest drinks canmaker said that it was confident of meeting market expectations for the full year after cost reductions and currency translation gains offset weak sales. The group also said that Graham Chipcase, group director of plastic packaging, would become chief executive on January 1.
Bulgari: The Italian jewellery company returned to profit in the third quarter and expects the last three months to be the best of the year as sales in its own stores rose in October. It made a net profit of €7 million (£6.2 million) in the third quarter, compared with a net loss of €11.2 million in the second quarter.
Hornby: The toymaker said that weak sterling pushed pre-tax profits lower in the six months to September 30, at £700,000 against £1.8 million last year. Jenson Button’s Formula One world title win is expected to give the company’s sales, which increased by 5 per cent to £25.5 million, a pre-Christmas boost.
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Airbus: The aircraft maker has agreed a deal worth $1.8 billion (£1.1 billion) with Vietnam Airlines to supply six new aircraft, including four Airbus A380 super -jumbos.
Swine flu: Sales of flu treatments because of the H1N1 swine-flu pandemic may be sustainable beyond the current winter season, as governments around the world overhaul their long-term strategy on stockpiles, said Andrew Witty, chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline.
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Rusal: The Russian aluminium group is targeting major Chinese investors for its planned $2 billion (£1.2 billion) share offering. Rusal, controlled by Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch, which is the world’s largest aluminium producer has still to reach a deal with Western banks to restructure $7.3 billion of foreign debts.
Accor: The mooted split of the French hotel and services company into two separate companies is far from a done deal, Caisse des D?pôts et Consignations, one of its biggest shareholders, has insisted. It argues that Accor should consider “all the strategic options”.
Punch Taverns: The group said that it was taking a further step towards becoming “more transparent” with tenants by starting to advertise the estimated profits that licensees should expect to generate from leasing its pubs.
3D Entertainment: The £30 million auction of the embattled bar operator, in which Luminar has a 49 per cent stake, has attracted interest from Novus Leisure, Tiger Tiger operator, and R Capital and Sun Capital, the private equity groups, according to M&C Report.
Whitbread: The leisure group said that it did not expect “a material number” of Threshers sites to revert to its control in the wake of the collapse of the offlicence chain into administration.
Playboy Enterprises: The adult entertainment group is in talks with Jim Griffiths, former entertainment president at Playboy, and Golden Gate Capital, the private equity firm, about a $300 million (£180 million) sale. The company is also in separate talks with Iconix Brand.
Xstrata: Mick Davis, chief executive of Xstrata, has made just under £14 million in profit from cashing in hundreds of thousands of share options in the acquisitive Swiss-based mining group in less than a month.
Total: The world’s fifth-largest oil company admitted health and safety breaches relating to Britain’s biggest explosion during peacetime. The company’s UK arm was one of five defendants facing prosecution as a result of the fire at Buncefield oil depot in Hertfordshire in December 2005.
Abercrombie & Fitch: The US preppy-style clothing retailer reported quarterly profits ahead of Wall Street expectations, driven largely by cost cuts as the company worked to close its higher-priced Ruehl line.
Electrocomponents: The British electrical parts supplier said that it expects a return to growth next year after its sales in the first half were better than expected. The company, which distributes items ranging from cables to batteries and software, said October sales were down around 8 per cent. For the first half to September 30, the company reported underlying pre-tax profit of £24.8 million on sales down 15.3 per cent at £447.2 million.
Agilent Technologies: The electronics testing equipment-maker for telecoms groups announced stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Weak technology spending dragged down Agilent’s revenue by 21 per cent to $1.17 billion (£700 million).
Liberty Global: The international cable operator controlled by John Malone, has agreed to buy Unitymedia from a private equity group for $3 billion (£1.8 billion) in its first German acquisition. The sale of Germany’s second-biggest cable network by a shareholder group led by BC Partners and Apollo is worth $5.2 billion including assumed debt.
BA/Iberia: Iberia’s cabin crew and pilots have emerged as potentially prime cost-cutting targets for Willie Walsh, the new chief of a merged British Airways-Iberia. Iberia cabin crew earn an average of €50,000 (£44,600) compared with BA’s average of £29,900 and Virgin Atlantic’s average of £14,000.
Welsh Water: One of Britain’s biggest water groups is at the centre of an investigation into alleged bribery. The water supplier chaired by Lord Burns, the former Treasury mandarin, has been visited by Ofwat, the industry regulator, who interviewed several employees.
Areva: Unions at the French nuclear energy group sent an open letter to legislators asking them to block the sale of Areva’s transmission and distribution business. Earlier this week, Areva said that it had received three binding offers for the business, which analysts say is worth between €3.5 billion (£3.1 billion) and €4.5 billion.