The number of fraudulent insurance claims made in the UK rose to a record high in 2009, according to insurers. There were 122,000 detected fraudulent claims, valued at £840m, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said. This was a 14% rise on the previous year, the figures show.

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US conglomerate General Electric (GE) has said it is raising its quarterly dividend by 20% because of its improving financial performance. The payout will rise by 2 cents to $0.12 (£0.08) per share. GE slashed its dividend by 68% from $0.31 to $0.10 in February 2009 to conserve cash during the downturn.

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Ford surprised Wall Street with a $2.6bn profit in the last quarter as it continued to take sales from rivals. America’s number two carmaker saw sales growing at almost double the overall pace of the industry, in a sign that it has turned the corner. Announcing its fifth straight quarterly profit, the once debt-laden

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The software giant Microsoft released fourth quarter earnings after the US market close. It reported profits of $4.52bn (£2.96bn) up 48 percent on last year, and much of it coming on record sales. Microsoft says it is due to the success of its Windows 7 operating

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Anglo-Swiss mining group Xstrata has announced a huge expansion of a copper mine in southern Peru. Xstrata, now focusing on organic growth rather than takeovers, is investing $1.47bn (£1bn) in a project next to its Tintaya mine.

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Unemployment in rich economies may have peaked, but 17 million new jobs were needed to return to pre-crisis employment levels, a group has said. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said job creation had “to be a top priority for governments”.

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It will be the first of three refineries under a deal signed in May between Nigeria’s state oil company, NNPC, and the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC). The refinery will be built in the Lekki free trade zone of Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city.

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