Gary A Beetner

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU) has chosen Matt Comyn, who previously ran its brokerage arm, to head up its retail banking division as the former chief departs for a senior role at Royal Bank of Scotland in London.

KT Corp. (KT) said Friday its second-quarter net profit declined 43% from a year earlier on increased spending to upgrade its network and higher marketing costs to attract more subscribers to the faster service.

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and German rival SAP AG (SAP, SAP.XE) agreed Thursday to damages in a long-running copyright lawsuit, a move Oracle says will pave the way for appeal.

Oil Search Ltd. (OSH.AU) said Friday its gross oil output through a key terminal in Papua New Guinea is at a reduced level of around 5,000 barrels per day as bad weather prevents inspections following an oil leak last week.

After 23 years at the helm, CSL Ltd. (CSL.AU) Chief Executive Brian McNamee will step aside in July next year and hand the reins to Paul Perreault, president of CSL's Behring unit, Chairman John Stone said Friday.

China's four largest state-run banks likely extended 220 billion yuan ($34.7 billion) of new yuan loans in July, a rise of 30 billion yuan from June, amid an array of policies by Beijing to ensure growth doesn't sharply decelerate, the state-run Shanghai Securities News reported Friday.

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO) is planning to produce more than 10 million vehicles globally in 2012, driven by hefty demand in North America and emerging markets, public broadcaster NHK reported Friday quoting sources close to the matter.

DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (D05.SG) said Friday its second-quarter net profit rose 10%, beating market expectations on the back of strong lending growth and a decline in allowances.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) said Friday its chief executive and the head of its petroleum division have elected to forgo their bonuses for last financial year after the company was forced to book a US$2.84 billion impairment charge against the value of U.S. shale gas assets bought just last year.

Japanese stocks tumbled out of the Friday open, with the Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.2% to 8,545.90 after U.S. shares fell overnight after the European Central Bank offered no immediate action at its policy meeting and as some major earnings disappointed.