Business and Finance news

U.K. home prices will fall next year, extending a decline that began in the third quarter, as mortgage restrictions and government spending cuts discourage buyers, a Bloomberg News survey showed.
The median estimate of 23 banks, brokers and property forecasters that took part in the survey was for a decline of about 2.5 percent. Predictions […]

Lawson Inc. Chief Executive Officer Takeshi Niinami aims to open almost 10,000 stores in China by 2020, selling drinks, food and magazines. To pull it off, the Tokyo-based executive is packing his bags for Shanghai.
As Japan’s second-largest convenience-store operator plans to boost outlets in China more than 30-fold, Niinami, 51, will spend a month […]

U.K. house prices fell for a sixth month in December and will extend their decline in 2011 on “weak” demand and tighter mortgage-lending conditions, Hometrack Ltd. said.
The average cost of a home fell 0.4 percent from last month, and prices will drop a further 2 percent in 2011, the London-based property researcher said in […]

February marks the start of the year of the rabbit in the Chinese lunar calendar.
It may be an auspicious sign for Playboy Enterprises Inc., which opened a nightclub in Macau last month as it seeks to expand its licensing of the trademark bunny head logo on lifestyle products in Asia, its fastest growing region.
The company, […]

Six banks have repaid government bailouts worth a combined $2.66 billion, the Treasury department said Wednesday.
The banks are returning taxpayer money that they received in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
Huntington Bancshares, First Horizon National Corp., Wintrust Financial Corp., Susquehanna Bancshares Inc., Heritage Financial Corp. and The Bank of Kentucky Financial Corp. all paid […]

Managers at Heathrow boasted last month that the world’s busiest international airport was working flat out to ensure it “will once again be prepared for the onset of winter.”
Then a few inches of snow fell, and Heathrow shut down. Passengers slept on floors under foil blankets, or were turned away outside terminals, Christmas travel plans […]

Walgreen Co., the largest drugstore operator in the U.S., said Wednesday that its profit jumped 18.8 percent in the fiscal first quarter on a mix of better pricing and generic drug sales.
The Deerfield, Ill., company said its profit rose to $580 million, or 62 cents per share, from $489 million, or 49 cents per share. […]

Emirati telecommunications provider Etisalat says it still wants to buy a 46 percent of Kuwaiti rival Zain despite speculation it might consider taking a smaller stake.
Etisalat last month agreed to acquire the stake for $12 billion from a group of investors led by Kuwaiti conglomerate Kharafi Group, but the deal has faced opposition from some […]

The number of foreclosure notices filed in November plunged 21%, the biggest month-over-month drop ever recorded by RealtyTrac, the online foreclosure marketer. Filings fell 14% compared with November 2009.
The number of Americans who actually lost their homes to bank repossessions plummeted even more steeply — to 67,428. That was off a whopping 28% from […]

The Senate Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a sweeping tax package that would save millions of Americans thousands of dollars in higher taxes while also reducing their Social Security taxes and extending jobless benefits.
President Barack Obama swiftly urged the House to pass the $858 billion bill without changes, a slap at Democratic liberals eager to toughen a […]