Geraldine E Zevenbergen

Ayala Land Inc.'s (ALI.PH) second-quarter net profit rose 25% from the year-earlier period as earnings at the Philippines' largest property developer by sales and market capitalization continued to be boosted by the buoyant real-estate market, it said Friday.

European stocks are expected to start close to the flat line Friday, following disappointment at the European Central Bank's inaction Thursday, and investors will now turn their attention to the closely watched U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which is seen as a key indicator of the health of the

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.TO) said Friday that its net profit surged in the fiscal first quarter from the year-earlier period, when the impact of natural disasters in Japan disrupted its manufacturing operations and cut its supply of vehicles.

Allianz SE (ALV.XE) said Friday that second-quarter net profit rose 23%, helped by lower sovereign debt losses, plus gains in life & health insurance, asset management and investments.

Glencore International PLC (GLEN.LN), a commodities company, said Friday it has entered into an agreement to sell Viterra Inc.'s minority interest in a nitrogen facility located in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, to CF Industries Holdings, Inc.

PPR SA (PP.FR), the owner of luxury brands such as Gucci, will create a joint-venture company with Italian on-line retailer Yoox SpA (YOOX.MI) to create on-line stores to sell PPR's luxury brands.

TIDMGSK RNS Number : 2406J GlaxoSmithKline PLC 03 August 2012 Friday 3 August 2012, London UK - LSE Announcement GSK Completes Acquisition of Human Genome Sciences GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE: GSK) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ: HGSI) for US$3.6

Industrial conglomerate Siemens (SI) said late Thursday it will buy back as much as 3 billion euros ($3.65 billion) worth of shares and cancel around 33 million treasury shares.

Poland's Bank Polska Kasa Opieki S.A. (PEO.WA), the country's second-largest bank by assets, said Friday its second-quarter net profit dropped 1.4% on lower fee income and higher provisions. The bank, which is also known as Pekao and is a unit of Italy's UniCredit S.p.A. (UCG.MI), posted a net