UK car production fell heavily in July, figures have shown, dropping 8.9% on the same month last year.

Just over 98,000 cars were produced in the month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Continue reading this post…

Shares in Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine maker, have fallen 23% after it reported a second-quarter loss and cut its sales forecast.

Net losses in the second quarter were 119m euros ($153m; £98m), down from a profit of 43m euros a year ago. Continue reading this post…

Standard Chartered has reported a 10% rise in first-half profit, helped by a reduction in its impairment provisions for bad loans.

The bank announced a pre-tax profit of $3.12bn (£1.96bn) for the first six months of the year, up from the $2.84bn it made in the same period last year. Continue reading this post…

Lloyds Banking Group has reported a return to profit for the first half of the year, largely due to a drop in the amount set aside to cover bad loans.

Pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of June came in at £1.6bn, compared with loss of £4bn in the same period a year earlier. Continue reading this post…

Former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, has warned that the US economy could be heading towards a double-dip recession.

There is currently a “pause” in the US recovery, he told US television, so that it feels like a “quasi-recession”. Continue reading this post…

German carmaker BMW has reported a surge in profits, thanks to a recovery in global markets, demand from China and strong sales of new models.

The firm made 834m euros (£692.8m; $1.1bn) between April and June, up from 121m euros a year earlier. Sales climbed by 18.3% to 15.35bn euros. Continue reading this post…

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. Continue reading this post…

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. Continue reading this post…

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 Continue reading this post…

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 Continue reading this post…