Airbus takes top planemaking spot

European planemaker Airbus took top spot in global jet plane deliveries and orders during 2008.

Airbus saw a 7% rise in deliveries to a record 483 planes. US rival Boeing - hit by a machinists' strike - saw its deliveries fall by 15% to 375 planes.

It also outsold Boeing, with orders for 777 jets, down 42% from the previous year. Last week, Boeing said it sold 662 aircraft in 2008, down 53% on 2007.

Airbus is restructuring to cope with currency volatility and other issues.

It said its Power8 cost-cutting programme had saved 1.3bn euros ($1.7bn; £1.2bn).

'Challenging 2009'

The pan-European firm sold planes worth $100bn (£68bn) in 2008, giving it a market share of 54%.

And it said it had a backlog of 3,715 jets, which it is estimated it would take six years to clear, although this could be reduced to four years with cancellations.

Last year, Airbus sold a net total of 472 single-aisle aircraft and 310 wide-body models, including nine A380 superjumbos.

Boeing's 2008 production was hit by a 58-day machinists' strike.

Meanwhile, Airbus has cut its A380 delivery forecast for 2009 to 18 planes. In 2008 it delivered 12 of the aircraft.

"We all know that 2009 will be a very challenging year for the aeronautics industry," said Airbus chief Tom Enders.

"At Airbus we are well prepared and confident."

Medical leave for Apple boss Jobs

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is to take medical leave until the end of June, saying his health issues were more complex than he first thought.

Mr Jobs revealed last week he was being treated for a "hormone imbalance" but was staying on as the firm's head.

Chief operating officer Tim Cook will again stand in while Mr Jobs is away.

Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, Mr Jobs had appeared increasingly gaunt at recent public appearances, sparking rumours about his health.

Speculation about his health had intensified since December, after Apple said Mr Jobs would not be making his annual keynote address at the Macworld conference in San Francisco.

Directors' support

In an e-mail to employees on Wednesday, Mr Jobs said: "Unfortunately the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well."

"In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health... I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June."

As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan."

In last week's statement, Mr Jobs said doctors thought they had found the cause for his weight loss: "A hormone imbalance that has been robbing me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy."

Apple's board said it was giving him "complete and unwavering support".

Apple's share price fell 7% in late trading on Wall Street following the announcement, showing how closely the company's fortunes are still identified with the person who helped create it, says the BBC's Greg Wood in New York.

Professor Gerard Tellis of Marshall Business School at University of Southern California, said Mr Jobs had a "sense of what the market really wants and that's a rare talent".

"In the case of iPod, iTunes, the iPhone, as well as the iMac, he seems to have got it right."

"In each case, the company made a big decision based on his tastes and they seem to have got it right, because those products have turned out very well," he said.

Jobs' leadership

Apple's shares have risen and fallen over the last year in step with rumours or news about Mr Jobs' health.

While the top executive's health would be an issue for investors in any company, at Apple the level of concern has been heightened, because Mr Jobs is involved in everything from ideas for new products to the way they are marketed.

"Steve Jobs is the Ronald McDonald of Apple, he is the face," said Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

"They either need to redefine the company so his role is divided among different people or they need to find somebody that can clone Steve Jobs."

But other analysts disagreed.

"Everyone is going to speculate he is on his deathbed, like it usually goes. The company will do just fine with Steve taking a leave of absence," said Van Baker at information technology research firm Gartner.

"Apple is not going to collapse without him there."

Mr Jobs co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak in 1976 at the beginning of the personal computer revolution. He left the firm in 1985 but returned in 1997 and became full-time chief executive once again in 2000.

Since then, Apple has churned out a string of sleek gadgets, from the iMac and the iPod to a new line of aluminum-covered Macbooks and the iPhone.

Many investors fear that without him, Apple would not be able to sustain its growth.

Mr Jobs said he was passing day-to-day management to Tim Cook, who filled in for Mr Jobs in 2004 when the Apple chief took leave to battle his cancer.

Rupee weak at 48.57 a dlr in early trade

The Indian rupee depreciated, in tandem with weakness in local stocks, and was quoted 25 paise lower at 48.55/57 against the greenback in early trade on Monday on some dollar demand from importers.

In lacklustre activity at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency resumed weak at 48.53/55 a dollar from its last close of 48.28/29 a dollar and was steady at 48.55/57 a dollar in late morning deals.



Forex dealers said the rupee continued to remain under pressure as the Satyam accounts' scandal triggered fears of more capital outflows from the country despite some leading fund managers ruling out possibility of any capital outflow because of the Satyam fiasco.



They said oil refiners bought dollars as the global oil prices fell to around USD 40 a barrel level in Asian trade on Monday morning.



The Indian benchmark Sensex was down 268 points at 1030 hours after some foreign brokerages pointed to disappointing third quarter earnings likely to be affected by high input costs and the current liquidity crisis.

Obama plan 'could create 4m jobs'

US President-elect Barack Obama says urgent action is needed on the economy, and his $775bn (£509bn) stimulus plan could create up to four million jobs.

Mr Obama, who takes office in two weeks, wants to cut taxes and create jobs through increased government spending on public works projects.

"It's not too late to change course, but only if we take immediate and drastic action," he said.

The US unemployment rate is 7.2%, after 524,000 jobs were lost in December.

Recession fears

The number of job losses last year was 2.6 million, the largest since World War II.

The figures, released on Friday, heightened fears that the US is entering a long period of recession.

The president-elect published a detailed analysis of his recovery plan by his economic advisers, who said it could create up to four million jobs by the end of 2010.

The analysts estimated that the unemployment rate at the end of 2010 would be 1.8 percentage points lower if the plan was enacted.

"If nothing is done, economists from across the spectrum tell us that this recession could linger for years and the unemployment rate could reach double digits.

"They warn that our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world," he said in his weekly YouTube address.

Margins of error

The report estimates how many jobs each part of the plan would create.

More than 40% of the new jobs should go to women and 90% of them should be in the private sector.

It concedes that the estimates are "subject to significant margins of error". This is because the assumptions on which it is based may prove wrong and the package may change as it goes through Congress.

Senior Democratic senators have expressed scepticism that tax cuts will lead to growth and job creation.

They want more money spent on infrastructure and energy projects.

Satyam rebounds on rescue hopes

Shares in Indian software firm Satyam have jumped 51% on hopes of a rescue plan for the scandal-hit firm.

On Sunday, the Indian government appointed three leading businessmen to the company's board.

The board is meeting to draw up a rescue plan for the firm that has been at the centre of a scandal over the falsifying of accounts.

Meanwhile, the World Bank revealed that Satyam and two other Indian IT firms are on a business blacklist.

The Satyam scandal has undermined investors' confidence in India's booming outsourcing industry.

Deepak Parekh, a senior banker and one of the firm's new bosses, is due to hold a news conference at 5 pm local time - about 1130 GMT.

Satyam shares were up 51% at 36.05 rupees after the stock lost 87% last week.

World Bank

India's IT sector was dealt a further blow after the World Bank said that three Indian firms, including Satyam, were on a list of- companies that are banned from doing business with the bank.


Satyam's office in Bangalore
Satyam employs more than 50,000 people

Shares in Indian software firm Satyam have jumped 51% on hopes of a rescue plan for the scandal-hit firm.

On Sunday, the Indian government appointed three leading businessmen to the company's board.

The board is meeting to draw up a rescue plan for the firm that has been at the centre of a scandal over the falsifying of accounts.

Meanwhile, the World Bank revealed that Satyam and two other Indian IT firms are on a business blacklist.

The Satyam scandal has undermined investors' confidence in India's booming outsourcing industry.

Deepak Parekh, a senior banker and one of the firm's new bosses, is due to hold a news conference at 5 pm local time - about 1130 GMT.

Satyam shares were up 51% at 36.05 rupees after the stock lost 87% last week.

World Bank

India's IT sector was dealt a further blow after the World Bank said that three Indian firms, including Satyam, were on a list of- companies that are banned from doing business with the bank.


WORLD BANK BLACKLIST
Satyam barred for 8 years
Wipro barred for 4 years
Megasoft barred for 4 years
Source: World Bank

This was the first time the World Bank had disclosed the list of companies barred from receiving direct contracts under its corporate procurement program.

Satyam was banned in September 2008 for eight years and Wipro Technologies was blacklisted for four years from June 2007 for providing improper benefits to World Bank staff.

Wipro said it was banned for offering World Bank employees shares in its stock offer in the US in 2000.

Megasoft Consultants was banned for 4 years from December 2007 for taking part in a joint venture with World Bank staff while also conducting business with the Bank.

Shares in Wipro and Megasoft fell sharply on the news.

Arrests

The entire board of Satyam, a private company, had been sacked after its founder and former chairman had been arrested.

Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama, also a former Satyam director, were arrested on charges including criminal conspiracy and forgery.

Mr Raju admitted last week that the firm had been falsifying its accounts.

He said the company had exaggerated its cash reserves by some $1bn (£661m).

The other new directors are Kiran Karnik, the former boss of technology trade group Nasscom, and C Achuthan, a former member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

The company, which employs 53,000 people and enjoyed a turnover of $40bn last year, is now fighting for its life.

Its clients include Nestle, General Electric and Ford.

The Raju brothers have also been charged with criminal breach of trust and falsifying documents.

They have been remanded in custody until 23 January, and could face life in prison.

Indian police have also now detained Vadlamani Srinivas, Satyam's chief financial officer, for questioning.

Iceland buys 51 Woolworths stores

Frozen food retailer Iceland has bought 51 former Woolworths stores, and said it plans to create 2,500 new jobs.

The announcement comes just three days after the final 200 Woolworths stores closed their doors for the last time.

"We are confident we can help to support the local community in these towns who have lost a major High Street retailer in Woolworths," said Iceland.

Woolworths went into administration in November, but was unable to find a buyer to take on the company.

Previous bid

Iceland first made an offer to buy all of Woolworths' 815 stores last August, but Woolworths rejected the bid, for an unconfirmed amount, calling it "unacceptable".

Around three quarters of the 51 Woolies stores Iceland has bought are in the south of England, including 10 in London.

Iceland currently has 682 outlets.

Founded in 1970, the firm was bought in 2005 by a consortium led by Icelandic investment group Baugur.

Lloyds pays $350m to end US case

UK-based bank Lloyds TSB has agreed to pay a $350m penalty to US authorities over financial transfers that violated US sanctions.

The US Justice Department said Lloyds TSB had acknowledged "criminal conduct" and agreed to forfeit the funds in return for an end to its investigation.

Prosecutors said the bank faked records so clients in Iran, Libya and Sudan could do business with US institutions.

Lloyds TSB said that it had cooperated fully with the probe.

"We are committed to running our business with the highest levels of integrity and regulatory compliance across all of our operations, and have undertaken a range of significant steps to further enhance our compliance programmes," it said in a statement.

Wire transfers

US prosecutors said that the bank's misconduct took place between 1995 and 2007.

"For more than 12 years, Lloyds facilitated the anonymous movement of hundreds of millions of dollars from US-sanctioned nations through our financial system," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich said.

According to court documents, Lloyds removed information such as customer names, bank names and addresses so that wire transfers would pass undetected through filters at US banks.

This process - known as stripping - meant that more than $350m (£230m at current exchange rates) that might otherwise have been blocked was processed by US institutions.

Lloyds TSB had agreed to forfeit half the money to the US and half to New York County.

In return, the Justice Department would recommend that charges against the bank be dismissed in two years, it said.

Lloyds said it had set aside £180m last year against a possible settlement - before sterling weakened against the US dollar - and it did "not anticipate any further enforcement actions".

The US prohibits certain countries, institutions and individuals from accessing the US banking system, based on its foreign policy and national security goals.

It lifted sanctions on Libya in 2004, but measures remain in place against Iran and Sudan.

Accord signed in Russia gas row

Russian, Ukrainian and European Union officials have signed a deal which should pave the way for the re-opening of gas supplies to Europe.

The deal was signed by Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko, Russian PM Vladimir Putin and Czech PM Mirek Topolanek.

The deal is aimed at enabling a resumption of Russian gas deliveries to European countries through Ukraine.

Hundreds of thousands of European homes have no heating after gas shipments via Ukraine were halted on Wednesday.

Although both Ukraine and Russia had guaranteed that transit routes to Europe would be unaffected, mutual accusations between Kiev and Moscow resulted in supplies being cut.

Mr Topolanek, who has been in Ukraine for talks with Ms Tymoshenko, said the signing of the deal cleared the way for the resumption of Russian natural gas supplies to Europe.

"Nothing prevents Russia now from resuming gas supplies," he said.

'Calming Russian fears'

The Russian deal followed five hours of talks between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and officials from the European Union.

Under the deal, EU, Ukrainian and Russian observers will monitor supplies, in order to calm Russian fears that Ukraine is siphoning off gas for its own use. Ukraine has denied this allegation.

After signing the deal, Ms Tymoshenko said Ukraine's agreement signified its "goodwill" and role as an "honest transit country", the Associated Press reported.

Mr Putin is quoted on Interfax, the Russian news agency, as saying that the "transit of gas through Ukraine will start again as soon as the (transit) control mechanism starts to work".

EU monitors are in Kiev and are expected to head to the pumping and measuring stations on Ukraine's eastern and western borders early on Sunday, a spokesman for Naftogaz, the Ukrainian state energy company, told the BBC.

If things go to plan and once those monitors are in place, says the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Kiev, Russia should turn on the taps.

Ukraine and Russia's bitter contractual dispute over gas prices and transit fees has affected several countries which are unlikely to have supply resumed before Monday at the earliest, despite the signing of this deal.

Normal service in affected countries such as Bulgaria, Slovakia, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Serbia will be delayed as it takes around 36 hours from the moment of turning on the taps for the gas to reach consumers, our correspondent adds.

Spanish industrial output plunges

Spanish industrial output fell by 15.1% in November, compared with the same month one year ago, the biggest fall on record and a sign of a deep recession.

Analysts had expected output in factories and mines to drop by 11%.

On Thursday, figures revealed that the country's unemployment rate hit a 12-year high in 2008 of 3 million.

Retail sales across the 15 nations that share the euro rose unexpectedly in November, defying the gloom that pervades the eurozone economy.

Manufacturing blow

Spain, which has enjoyed 14 years of consecutive growth, is expected to enter a recession in the fourth quarter. GDP growth fell 0.2% in the third quarter and analysts forecast a 0.8% drop for the fourth quarter.

The country has been particularly hard hit by the slowdown, partly because of the weakness in the construction sector.

The figures indicate that the problem is not just in the construction sector, but also in manufacturing.

The biggest fall in output was in durable goods like household appliances, which tumbled 23.9%. Consumer goods fell 9.4%.

This latest data reinforces expectations of an early cut in eurozone interest rates.

The European Central Bank is to meet next week to decide on the future level of rates and will be faced with a barrage of data indicating a worsening slowdown in the eurozone.

"The fourth quarter does look very, very bad. There has been a substantial contraction in all activity, not just in industry, but what we've seen this morning is this is not just a Spanish, but a pan-European story," said Juergen Michels of Citigroup.

"The difference for Spain is that the problem is exacerbated by its own internal problems of its housing market and a lack of competitiveness," he added.

Retail sales

Separately, retail sales across the eurozone in November rose 0.6% from October and fell 1.5% from a year earlier. Both figures were better than expected.

Europe's biggest economies did better than the average.

Retail sales in France, the eurozone's second-biggest economy, were up 1.8% month on month and 1.6% on the year.

Germany, the eurozone's largest economy, registered rises of 0.7% and 0.3% respectively.

Food and drink sales rose 0.5% on the month and fell 1.3% on the year.

But analysts said the outlook remained bleak.

"Monthly data can be volatile. It's way too early to talk about signs of a turnaround with unemployment only recently surging higher. The outlook is both bleak for production and household sides in Europe once unemployment continues to rise much higher and we have only just seen that starting in Germany," said Matthew Sharratt of Bank of America.

"It makes no overall change to the outlook. It will probably lead to a 50 basis point cut by the ECB next week but signs on the retail side that it's not all one way count against the hope they could do more than 50 basis points," he added.

Eurozone interest rates are currently 2.5%.

Govt cracks down on tainted Satyam and disbands board

Cracking down on scandal-ridden Satyam, the Government tonight disbanded the IT Company’s Board, cancelled its meeting on Saturday and announced that it will soon nominate 10 new directors.

The high-profile Board, which was to meet in Hyderabad on Saturday to discuss the crisis that have engulfed the company and its over 50,000 employees, had virtually disintegrated in recent days in the wake of the Rs 7,800 crore fraud.



Founder B Ramalinga Raju, who has been summoned by market regulator SEBI on Saturday, had resigned as Chairman after disclosing staggering financial fraud.



Five other directors had also resigned leaving the strength only at three.



Announcing the decision, Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said "The current board ceases to exist and there would not be any meeting tomorrow... the new board will meet in the next seven days."



Government's decisive action came nearly 60 hours after the startling disclosure by Raju, presumed to have strong political friends, that put the company and its over 50,000 employees fate in limbo.



While the apex IT industry association NASSCOM welcomed the government move, Satyam spokesperson said "we have not heard from the government officially (about the disbanding of the Board and nominating new directors). The interim management is in place as of now." SEBI also tightened its noose around Raju, whose whereabouts were still a subject matter of speculation for the last three days.



His lawyer S Bharat Kumar said Raju would appear at 1600 hours on Saturday before the investigating team dispatched by regulator to Hyderabad on Thursday.



Meanwhile, there was panic among employees caused by rumours relating to salaries and downsizing, but the spokesperson said that there was no such move.



Perturbed over the seriousness of the Satyam scandal, the market regulator SEBI also announced a probe into the accounts of 30 Sensex companies, which include Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro and a host of IT firms.



The investigation would also cover 50 Nifty companies as well as some companies out of two indices.



Meanwhile, investors at domestic bourses continued to sell shares of Satyam, which plunged by over 40 per cent after dropping by close to 80 per cent on Wednesday.



Trading in the company's shares in the US and Amsterdam remained halted for the third day in a row, after the stock lost over 90 per cent to plunge below one-dollar level in pre- market trade on Wednesday.



Charging the company, as well as Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju for duping investors of billions of dollars, a third class action lawsuit was also filed in the US courts on Friday.



In Hyderabad, a team of Serious Fraud Investigation Office and Hyderabad Registrar of Companies (RoC) searched the Satyam headquarters.



Gupta said that the new board would decide on the new management for Satyam Computer and there was no decision to take over the management as yet.



He also said that the IT firm's auditors PwC, if found guilty, would be banned in the country. "The government has decided to approach the Company Law Board to ensure that the operations of the company continue uninterrupted," Gupta said, adding that the current board has failed in what it was supposed to do.



The government had approached the CLB, which has allowed it to restrain the current board members from functioning as the directors at the company.

BMW sales down but Mini sales up

BMW sales fell 4.3% in 2008 to 1.4 million, as falling demand for BMW-branded vehicles offset improved sales of its Mini and Rolls-Royce brands.

BMW said December was "marked by consumer reticence", with group sales falling by 26.4%, compared with the same month of 2007 of 112,423 vehicles.

Sales of the Rolls-Royce marque rose to 1,212 in 2008 from 1,010 in 2007.

The Mini brand also had a year of growth, with 2008 sales of 232,425, up 4.3% from the previous year.

"Overall we performed comparatively well with a 4.3% decrease," said marketing director Ian Robertson at BMW.

On Thursday, its rival Daimler, which makes Mercedes-Benz cars, reported a fall of sales of 2.8% in 2008 to 1.26 million.

The French carmaker Renault said on Friday that its sales had fallen 4.2% in 2008 but added that sales for the whole industry had been down by 4.8%.

US carmakers and manufacturers that make a high proportion of their sales in the US have been hit particularly hard by the downturn.