Facebook revenue surges 63% on strong ad sales

Social networking giant Facebook has reported profits of $523m (£316m) and a 63% increase in revenue for the fourth quarter, beating expectations.

Barclays considering closure of a quarter of its high street branches

Fresh fears of job cuts in the banking industry were raised on Tuesday night after it emerged Barclays could close a quarter of its high street branches in coming years.

Vodafone investors back $84 billion payout from Verizon sale

LONDON: Vodafone shareholders secured one of the biggest pay-outs in corporate history on Tuesday, as they approved the $130 billion sale of the British company's stake in its US joint venture Verizon Wireless.

Royal Bank of Scotland set to report up to £8bn losses for 2013

Royal Bank of Scotland is on track to report up to £8bn in losses for 2013 after taking a fresh hit for conduct and mis-selling issues, forcing its top management to refuse any bonuses for the year.

Samsung Electronics quarterly profit declines

Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones and TVs, has reported a drop in quarterly profit for the first time in two years.

JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon pay rises to $20m in 2013

The chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, will be paid $20m (£12.1m) for the past year's work.

Royal Mail performance boosted by strong parcel demand over Christmas

More people sending Christmas cards and higher revenue from parcels helped Royal Mail achieve solid business over the first Christmas since the company floated on the stock market.

Samsung 'infringed' Apple's auto-complete text patent

A US judge has ruled that Samsung infringed Apple's patent-protected word recommendation technology.

Pimco Dropping Linkers Calls Time on Abenomics Inflation Target

Pacific Investment Management Co. stopped favoring Japanese government bonds that benefit from consumer price gains as it predicts Abenomics won’t generate 2 percent inflation.

Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson sees Europe demand "levelling out" this yea

STOCKHOLM: The head of Chinese-owned carmaker Volvo Car Group forecast flat demand for cars in Europe's struggling automotive sector as the region slowly pulls out of a deep downturn.

Shell's profit warning linked to cost of drilling in Arctic waters

The costs of a trouble-prone drilling programme in Arctic waters off Alaska have contributed to Shell being forced to issue a shock profit warning which has shaken investor confidence.

Customers to win big from GM-VW sales race

Volkswagen AG and General Motors are neck-and-neck for the number two spot in the global sales race. But it's U.S. car buyers who might come out ahead.

Bank of America profits up as credit improves

Bank of America has reported stronger-than-expected profits for the fourth quarter of 2013, helped by improving credit conditions.

Shell to sell $15 billion of assets including some North Sea fields: Report

LONDON: Royal Dutch Shell could look to sell $15 billion worth of assets over the next two years including some North Sea fields, said a media report on Tuesday, expanding on its existing guidance that divestments would accelerate this year.

GM's global sales rise four percent in 2013

(Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) said on Tuesday its global sales grew 4 percent in 2013 on strong demand in the world's two largest auto markets, China and the United States.

BP loses bid over Gulf oil payouts

BP has lost an appeal to cancel the terms of its multi-billion-dollar settlement with businesses over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.

Price war in US mobile market raises fear of profit hemorrhage

NEW YORK: New Year's rivalry among US mobile operators has Wall Street worried that the industry's profits could seriously decline.

Volkswagen posts 6.3% December group sales gain, 2013 record deliveries

BERLIN/FRANKFURT: Germany's Volkswagen increased group sales by 6.3 per cent in December as demand from China and North America more than offset declining deliveries in core European markets.

Prada owners under investigation for tax avoidance: Sources

MILAN: Italian fashion designer Miuccia Prada and her husband, Prada chief executive and fellow shareholder Patrizio Bertelli, are under investigation as part of a tax avoidance probe by Milan prosecutors, three investigative sources told Reuters on Friday.

Labour attacks 'botched' privatisation of Royal Mail

Labour has accused the government of botching the privatisation of Royal Mail, saying taxpayers have been short-changed by hundreds of millions of pounds.

Sainsbury's cuts its sales forecast

Sainsbury's has cut its full-year sales forecast after warning that customers are likely to "spend cautiously" in the first few months of 2014.

Samsung to report profit decline as phone sales lag

Samsung is on track to report lower operating profit for the first time in more than two years amid increased competition in the smartphone market.

JPMorgan nears $2 billion settlement in a case tied to Madoff: Reports

JPMorgan Chase & Co is nearing a $2 billion settlement with federal authorities to resolve suspicions that the bank ignored signs of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, the New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the case.

Facebook sued over alleged private message 'scanning'

Facebook is facing a class action lawsuit over allegations that it monitors users' private messages. The lawsuit claims that when users share a link to another website via a private message, Facebook scans it to profile the sender's web activity.

Japan Companies Say Recovery to Survive Higher Tax, Poll Shows

More than 80 percent of large Japanese companies expect the nation’s economic recovery to survive Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s planned sales tax increase in April, according to a survey by the Mainichi newspaper.

Ford, Chrysler close 2013 with more gains in US sales

CHICAGO: Ford and Chrysler closed out 2013 by extending strong sales gains Friday as the booming US auto industry was expected to rack up its best performance in years.

Wal-Mart recalls donkey meat in China

Wal-Mart has recalled a donkey meat product in China after tests showed that it contained DNA of other animals.

Restoring trust in Barclays 'to take five to 10 years'

Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins says he expects it to be five to 10 years before he can restore public trust in the bank. Mr Jenkins said that people in large organisations, "want to do the right thing - it's sometimes that they perceive the right thing differently".

Fiat reaches deal to buy remaining 41.5% of Chrysler shares

Italian car manufacturer Fiat announced on Wednesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire the remaining shares of Chrysler for $3.65bn (£2.2bn) in payments to a union-controlled trust fund.