LONDON (AFX) - Here are the top stories on AFX News Airbus French employees protest restructuring plan; 1,000 on strike in Toulouse
PARIS (AFX) - About 1,000 Airbus employees in its headquarters city of Toulouse staged a strike to protest the restructuring plan in which the troubled EADS unit would cut 10,000 jobs throughout Europe.
Another 100 employees were protesting outside EADS' French headquarters in Paris, according to a reporter from Agence France-Presse. Benetton FY net rises to 125 mln eur in line with guidance
MILAN (AFX) - Benetton Group SpA said that its full-year net profit rose to 125 mln eur from 112 mln a year earlier, in line with its guidance.
Full-year sales rose 8.3 pct to 1.911 bln eur, EBITDA rose to 276 mln and operating profits increased 9.4 pct to 180 mln. Commerzbank sells UK unit Jupiter to TA consortium for 1 bln eur - report
FRANKFURT (AFX) - Commerzbank AG is selling its UK asset management unit Jupiter for around 1 bln eur to a consortium formed out of Jupiter management itself and US financial investor TA Associates, Handelsblatt said, citing sources.
A spokesman for Commerzbank and another for Jupiter declined comment to the newspaper. Share offer for Aker Yards 40 pct stake set at 500 nkr
OSLO (AFX) - Bookbuilders SEB Enskilda and JP Morgan announced on Friday that they had set a price of 500 nkr a share for the 40.1 pct stake being sold by Norwegian industrial holding company Aker ASA in shipbuilder Aker Yards.
'SEB and JP Morgan wish to inform that in connection with the share placement in Aker Yards ASA it is anticipated that the price in the book building will be 500 crowns a share,' the two banks said in a statement to the Oslo Bors. Stada, Barr drop out of bidding for Merck KGaA's generic ops - report
MUMBAI (AFX) - Stada Arzneimittel AG and Barr Pharmaceuticals are out of the running for Merck KGaA's generics unit, following the first round of bidding, the Economic Times reported citing sources close to the company.
India's Ranbaxy Laboratories, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Mylan Laboratories and Actavis Group are among the shortlisted companies, the newspaper said. Consortium with EADS, Thales, Rolls to win 18.5 bln eur UK plane order -report
PARIS (AFX) - A consortium involving EADS, Thales, Rolls Royce and others is about to win an 18.5 bln eur contract from the British defence ministry for fuel tanker planes, the daily La Tribune said, citing sources close to the matter.
The consortium, AirTanker, also includes UK companies Cobham and VT Group. Universal Music offer song rights selloff to clear BMG deal with EU - report
BRUSSELS (AFX) - Vivendi's Universal Music has told the European Commission it is ready to divest a package of song rights to overcome reservations about the group?s bid to take over BMG?s music publishing business, the Financial Times reported.
The music group has offered to sell the rights to songs by a wide range of artists including Bruce Springsteen, Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Bryan Adams, the Stone Roses and the Spice Girls, the newspaper quoted people familiar with the case as saying. Italy 2007 GDP seen up 2 pct, against previous estimate up 1.3 - Treasury
MILAN (AFX) - Italy's GDP is expected to grow by 2 pct in 2007, against the government's previous estimate for 1.3, according to treasury estimates discussed by the government this morning.
The public deficit is seen at 2.3 pct of GDP, against the 2.8 pct target included in the 2007 budget, it said. KarstadtQuelle may sell up to 30 pct of its department stores - report
FRANKFURT (AFX) - KarstadtQuelle AG may sell as many as 27 of its 90 department stores if the outlets fail to reach the company's earnings goals, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing internal documents it obtained.
The newspaper said it is not clear which goals the department stores are expected to reach. India's Suzlon Energy likely to raise REpower bid to 1.7 bln usd - report
MUMBAI (AFX) - India's Suzlon Energy Ltd may revise its offer for Germany's REpower Systems AG to 1.7 bln usd following Areva's counter offer of 1.5 bln usd, the Economic Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
The paper quoted sources as saying that Suzlon is in talks with an ABN Amro led bank consortium and may make a revised offer of 160 eur per share. Siemens adding 300 mln eur to Nokia JV due to bribery probe delays
FRANKFURT (AFX) - Siemens AG is investing an additional 300 mln eur into its networks infrastructure joint venture with Nokia because of delays linked to bribery investigations at the German company, a Siemens spokesman said, confirming a report in Handelsblatt.
The newspaper said the additional investment in the joint venture will also partly cover any future damages claims that may crop up as a result of the bribery investigations. COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited