The leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the world Deere & Co. announced its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 54% on strong international sales.

The U.K.'s biggest power producer British Energy Group Plc announced its fiscal third-quarter profit fell 18%, weighed down by the cost of unscheduled reactor shutdowns and lower electricity prices.

A Finnish-Swedish pulp and paper manufacturer Stora Enso Oyj posted a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss on rising wood prices and costs to close mills.

The U.S. automotive company General Motors is reporting its largest annual loss.

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., the bottler of Coca-Cola and its other soft drinks, announced fourth-quarter adjusted income rose to 142 million dollars. Excluding a restructuring charge, debt extinguishment costs and a tax benefit, net income was 29 cents per share, above the mean estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial of 27 cents per share.

Monsanto Co. announced a new profit forecast in 2008. The company, which is considered to be the largest seed producer in the world, said it was expecting extra earnings from weed killer and GM seeds.

The French drug maker reports a big rise in its dividend.

Stronger vehicle sales has boosted profits at Japan's top automaker, while demand has weakened for new share offerings in India. VOA's Heda Bayron has the details in our weekly summary of the top business news in the Asia-Pacific.

Hasbro Incorporated increased profit 24 percent on a 16 percent rise in sales.

The world’s largest maker of dental implants, Nobel Biocare Holding AG, reported a 2.8 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit as in the U.S. and Europe slowed.

Steelmaker and scrap metal recycler Nucor Corp. will acquire one of the nation's biggest scrap-metal companies SHV North America Corp., which owns scrap company David J. Joseph Co., for about $1.44 billion, a deal that boosts Nucor's already large profile in the scrap-metals business.

McDonald's Corp., world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, reported comparable sales rose 5.7% in January, spurred by growth in Europe and Asia, but sales growth in the U.S. lagged.