Japanese companies that made tough decisions about exiting businesses, closing factories and revamping management led a doubling of corporate earnings last quarter to the highest level since 2007. Net income jumped to about 5.5 trillion yen ($55 billion) at more than 1,280 of the largest listed non-financial firms, the most since a credit meltdown sparked a global recession six years ago, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. Profit climbed from 2.25 trillion yen a year ago, the fastest jump sinc

DUBAI (AFP) ― Dubai Airshow took off on Sunday with huge aircraft orders and commitments worth around $141.5 billion for Boeing and Airbus from Gulf carriers, with the US manufacturer well in the lead.The biennial show began brightly for Boeing’s 777X, a long-range wide-bodied airliner featuring lower fuel consumption and composite wings.The new 777 is scheduled to be operational in 2020.Etihad Airways began the show with an $18.2 billion order for Boeings including 25 777Xs and one 777-200 frei

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s quick release of a surprisingly detailed national reform plan shows leaders are serious about economic change, analysts say, but uncertainties remain over its implementation.Just days after an initial outline announced at the end of a closely watched Chinese Communist Party meeting was largely panned as vague and disappointing, the ruling body added weight to the framework for change in the world’s second-largest economy.Reforms approved at the so-called Third Plenum meet

Company settles with investors over mortgage investments

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who played a central role in the government’s response to the financial crisis of 2008-2009, is joining private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC.The firm announced Saturday that Geithner will serve as its president and managing director starting March 1, 2014.Geithner led the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for more than five years before becoming Treasury secretary in 2009. By that time, the economy had sunk into a deep recession.Few Treasury secr

BEIJING (AFP) ― Two major Chinese Internet firms ― backed by Hollywood ― are suing the Asian giant’s leading search engine Baidu over copyright violations, they said Wednesday, in a rare internal challenge to the country’s rampant piracy.The two firms ― leading Web portal Sohu and top online video company Youku Tudou ― are seeking as much as 300 million yuan ($49 million) in compensation from Baidu, which they say has committed a “serious violation” of their rights by letting users access pirate

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― U.S. auto giant General Motors said Wednesday it would move the headquarters of its international operations to Singapore from Shanghai, boosting the city-state’s status as a regional business hub.Detroit-based GM said in a statement that the relocation of its consolidated international operations would take place in the second quarter of next year.The new headquarters “will oversee key parts” of GM’s business in Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, India, South K

Janet Yellen, nominated to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the economy and labor market are performing “far short of their potential” and must improve before the Fed can begin reducing monetary stimulus. “A strong recovery will ultimately enable the Fed to reduce its monetary accommodation and reliance on unconventional policy tools such as asset purchases,” Yellen, the Fed’s vice chairman, said in testimony prepared for her nomination hearing tomorrow before the Senate Banking

DALLAS (AP) ― American Airlines and US Airways reached a deal with the government that lets the two form the world’s biggest airline and opens up more room at key U.S. airports for low-cost carriers. The settlement announced Tuesday ― if approved by a federal judge ― would end a fight with the U.S. Justice Department and head off a courtroom showdown later this month. It preserves hub airports in Phoenix, Philadelphia, Charlotte and four other cities for at least three years. And it caps a serie

Grain sellers want to have their gluten-free cake and eat it, too. As the stretchy protein found in wheat and other grains has become the latest dietary bogeyman, sales at companies like General Mills Inc., Kellogg Co. and Britain’s Warburtons Ltd. have come under pressure. Yet instead of fighting back against what many dietitians contend lacks scientific grounding, they’re boosting output of pricier gluten-free foods while leaving industry groups to defend their traditional products. Less than