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Tim HobdenBeleaguered engineering firm Jarvis signalled a "dramatic turnaround in fortunes" yesterday as it reported significantly reduced annual losses.The company posted pre-tax losses of £58.2m for the year to March 31, which was in stark contrast to a £391m deficit a year before.Jarvis, which suffered financial problems since the Potters Bar rail crash in 2002, also hinted it was now on course ...

Asian stocks were mixed Friday, with Japan's major indexes advancing after better-than-expected earnings from Sony Corp. and Canon Inc. lifted technology shares while other sectors saw declines in the wake of losses on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average ended up 163 points or 1.1% at 15,342.87. The Tokyo Stock Price Index, or Topix, ended up 1.14% at 1,559.41. Market participants in J ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s decision to quit the German market, and incur a $1 billion loss, was the second time this year that the retailing giant has given up on a foreign market. While the departure and the hefty loss is a stinging public relations embarrassment, the move is a sign that the retailer, which has been hit by weak sales growth, reversals at the hands of st ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Google's got a problem. The No. 1 Internet search provider wants to succeed in three key growth areas: blogging, video sharing and social networking. Yet in all three cases, Google Inc. (GOOG) is getting trounced by upstarts even as it enjoys a phenomenal lead in its core business. At a time when Google can do little wrong in the market for text-based Internet ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Hartford Financial Services shares climbed on Friday after the insurer reported better-than-expected second-quarter results. The company cut its full-year earnings forecast, but the reduction was 100% attributable to a previously announced charge of $158 million, or 51 cents a share, related to an agreement with Lloyd's of London run-off reinsurer Equitas During  ...

The technology sector roared to life Friday and never looked back as many bellwether stocks ended the week with gains following a group of largely solid earnings reports. Among the sector leaders Dell Inc. (DELL) , Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) , Intel Corp. (INTC) , Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) , Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) and Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) each saw their shares rise at least 3% on th ...

Former Worldcom boss Bernard Ebbers has lost his appeal against his conviction and 25-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy. A federal appeals court in New York on Friday upheld the guilty verdict passed by the jury in Mr Ebbers' original trial back in March 2005. The convictions against Mr Ebbers relate to his part in an $11bn (£6bn) accounting fraud at the telecoms firm. The appeals court verdict may now lead to Mr Ebbers starting his jail term. Since last year the 64-year-old ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) - Shares of Coventry Health Care Inc. lost 5% Friday after the company posted a rise in second-quarter profit and raised its full- year earnings forecast but said membership growth is seen coming in near the low end of its forecast. Shares of the Bethesda, Md.-based managed health-care services provider (CVH) were down $2.70 at $51.21 in midday trade. Yesterday, Aet ...

By Mathieu Robbins LONDON (Reuters) - Bidders for Thames Water, which German utility RWE AG plans to float or sell for about 7 billion pounds, have been asked to submit indicative offers on about August 7, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. At least two consortia are likely to bid, including one led by Guy Hands's Terra Firma Capital Partners and another by Australia's Macquarie Ban ...

By Matt Falloon LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 index closed higher on Friday, notching its biggest weekly gain since March 2003, as U.S. interest rate fears dimmed and gains for miner Xstrata (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) helped offset disappointment over insurer Prudential's (PRU.L: Quote, Profile, Research) results. Analysts say the FTSE appears to have recovered from May's steep sell-off and looks primed to challenge five-year highs touched in April following a busy week of broadly  ...