Industries

Accor Says Recovery From 2009 Drop in Hotel Revenue May Take Five Years Accor SA, Europe’s largest hotelier, said recovery from last year’s revenue drop will take at least four to five years in Germany and other saturated markets as the possibility for price increases is limited.

Hennes & Mauritz CEO Persson Sees Economy Being `A Little Better' in 2010 Hennes & Mauritz AB Chief Executive Officer Karl-Johan Persson said the economy will be “a little better” this year and confirmed that Europe’s second-largest clothing retailer plans to open 240 stores in 2010.

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Crude Oil Futures Fluctuate After U.S. Inventories, Fuel Demand Increase Crude oil fluctuated after a government report showed that U.S. supplies climbed for a sixth week and fuel demand rose to the highest level since August.

OPEC Raises Forecast for Oil Demand on Lower Estimate for Gas Liquids The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it will need to pump more crude than previously forecast this year after cutting its outlook for production of natural gas liquids.

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Citigroup Cuts Yield on $2 Billion TruPS Offering to 8.5%: Credit Markets Citigroup Inc., seeking capital after repaying bailout funds to the Treasury, is selling trust preferred securities as rising investor demand drives borrowing costs to near the lowest in almost five years.

Apollo Said to Triple Property Assets With Buy of Citigroup Investing Unit Apollo Management LP agreed to buy Citigroup Inc.’s real estate investment unit in a move that will more than triple the value of the private-equity firm’s property assets, a person with knowledge of the deal said yesterday.

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J&J Pushed Drug's Sale to Elderly After U.S. Warned of False Safety Claims Johnson & Johnson made plans to reach $302 million in geriatric sales for its antipsychotic Risperdal just months after federal regulators said the company falsely claimed the drug was safe and effective with the elderly, according to internal documents.

Abbott to Buy Facet for $27 a Share, 54% More Than Biogen's Rejected Offer Abbott Laboratories, maker of the arthritis medicine Humira, succeeded in its bid for Facet Biotech Corp. by offering 54 percent more than Biogen Idec Inc. in its rejected takeover effort.

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MetLife Expands Beyond `Slow Growth' U.S. With Alico Buy, Henrikson Says MetLife Inc., the insurer spending $15.5 billion to buy an overseas unit from American International Group Inc., said lower growth in the U.S. market is prompting expansion abroad.

AIG's `Money in the Door' Asset Sales Garner $3.2 Billion for Bondholders American International Group Inc. bondholders reaped at least $3.2 billion after the bailed-out company announced deals to sell its two largest non-U.S. life insurance divisions for $51 billion.

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Apollo Said to Triple Property Assets With Buy of Citigroup Investing Unit Apollo Management LP agreed to buy Citigroup Inc.’s real estate investment unit in a move that will more than triple the value of the private-equity firm’s property assets, a person with knowledge of the deal said yesterday.

U.S. Mortgage Applications Index Increased for a Second Week, MBA Reports Mortgage applications in the U.S. rose for a second week, led by an increase in purchases that may indicate the renewal of a homebuyer tax credit is starting to invigorate demand.

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China Mobile Agrees to Buy 20% of Pudong Development Bank for $5.8 Billion China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest phone company by market value, agreed to buy 20 percent of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co. for 39.8 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) to expand its electronic-payment business.

AOL Chief Armstrong Targets Web Ad Billions With Sales, Content Hirings AOL Inc. said it’s “laser focused” on getting a share of an estimated $20 billion gap in online advertising, as marketers race to catch up with consumers on the Internet.

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American, BA Offer to Cede London Airport Slots to Boost Alliance Chances AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and British Airways Plc offered to cede at least four takeoff and landing slots in London for flights to New York and three other U.S. cities to win approval for their proposed alliance.

Toyota's `Bargains' May Boost U.S. Sales 30% in March, Edmunds.com Says Toyota Motor Corp., buoyed by an incentive campaign, may report a 30 percent jump in U.S. sales in March after recalls of millions of vehicles damped deliveries for two months, industry researcher Edmunds.com said.

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