Financial News

ATLANTA, May 13 (Reuters) - A projected Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, should be up and running by 2011 and there are no plans to delay building because of adverse conditions facing U.S. automakers, the plant's CEO said on Wednesday. "It's the best time to do it now and not to postpone it," Frank Fischer, chairman and chief executive of the company's Chattanooga operation,  ...

May 13 (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc: SAYS FRONTIER MERGER TERMINATION FEE WOULD BE $80 MILLION - SEC FILING ((Bangalore Equities Newsroom; +91 80 4135 5800; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780)) (For more news, please click here) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or simila ...

COPENHAGEN, May 13 (Reuters) - Danish pharmaceutical group Lundbeck would not be able to buy Irish biotech company Elan in current market conditions, Lundbeck's Chief Financial Officer Anders Gotzsche said on Wednesday. In March, shares in Elan jumped on what dealers said was market talk Lundbeck was lining up a bid. The two firms at the time declined to comment. Elan shares rose  ...

FRANKFURT, May 13 (Reuters) - Porsche: AGAIN DENIES MISLEADING INVESTORS ABOUT VOLKSWAGEN TAKEOVER PLANS ((Frankfurt Newsroom; +49 69 7565 1272)) (For more news, please click here) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior ...

By Junaid Khan KOTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Helicopter-borne Pakistani soldiers swooped into a Taliban stronghold in a remote corner of Swat on Tuesday as the United Nations urged help for hundreds of thousands displaced by the fighting. The offensive in Swat, 130 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, is seen as a test of the government's commitment to face up to a growing Taliban insu ...

By Jungyoun Park SEOUL, May 13 (Reuters) - Seoul shares ended firmer on Wednesday, with LG Powercomm and LG Dacom spiking on growing hopes over their merger, while Dongbu Hitek was lifted for a second day by unit sale hopes. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) finished up 0.78 percent at 1,414.52 points. "Although the gains were rather limited today, we think the market is still ...

MILAN, May 13 (Reuters) - The following factors could affect Italian markets on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*). * UNICREDIT UniCredit SpA posted a 58 percent drop in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, in line with analysts' forecasts, as the Italian bank cut costs and saw a rebound in trading in ...

(AFX UK Focus) 2009-05-13 06:28 UPDATE 1-Japan's Shinsei, Aozora in merger talks - sources

MILAN, May 13 (Reuters) - The following factors could affect Italian markets on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*). FIAT U.S. lender GMAC is cleared to provide financing to Chrysler dealers and customers, Chrysler's bankruptcy judge said on Tuesday.. Fiat is planning to tie-up with Chrysler. Ferrari, Fia ...

TOKYO, May 13 (Reuters) - Shinsei Bank and Aozora Bank, two struggling Japanese lenders controlled by U.S. funds, have entered formal talks to merge and could announce their intention as early as Wednesday, sources said. The banks had already been discussing the possibility of a merger, but did not cover specifics, the sources said. Now, the two lenders will begin to survey each other's as ...