Royal Philips Electronics NV, EuropeÔÇÖs largest maker of consumer electronics, has surprised analysts by announcing a second-quarter net profit of Ôé¼44 million. Analysts had been predicting the Amsterdam-based electronics company to make a loss of up to Ôé¼123 million, but net profits for the quarter were up, mainly due to an aggressive cost-saving programme.

Scottish oil and gas firm Venture Production has rejected a hostile cash bid from UK energy giant Centrica, saying it ÔÇ£substantially undervaluesÔÇØ the business.

US mobile network operator Sprint Nextel has announced it is to transfer operation of its networks to Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson. The seven-year, $5 billion agreement, said to be the largest network management deal ever made, will see 6,000 Sprint employees in the US transferred to a subsidiary owned by Ericsson in Overland Park, Kansas, in the third quarter of this year.  Analysts have estimated that the network outsourcing and employee reshuffle could generate annual savings of $100 million for Sprint.

London-based SABMiller, the worldÔÇÖs second-largest brewer, has announced plans to invest $125 million in a new brewery and soft drinks factory in Angola, as part of its ongoing programme of expansion in Africa.  The investment brings the amount invested by SABMiller across Angola in the past eighteen months to $250 million. The new site in Luanda, due to open in October, is expected to produce 500,000 hectolitres (1.32 million gallons) of beer and 200,000 hectolitres of soft drinks each year.

Insurance giant American International Group is said to be in talks over a deal for all or part of its foreign unit, American Life Insurance Co. (Alico), with rival insurer MetLife.┬á  The two firms discussed a possible deal in March, but failed to reach any agreement. It is reported that discussions have been renewed due to improvements in market conditions.┬á Alico, which operates in fifty countries around the world and currently generates over half its revenue in Japan, could offer rival insurers an opportunity to quickly expand their operations overseas.

UK discount clothing retailer Primark has seen a 20% jump in sales for the current financial year, its parent company AB Foods reported.┬á  Sales in the 40 weeks to 20 June were boosted by increasing customer footfall in existing outlets, combined with expansion into Germany and Portugal earlier in the year, the company said. ┬á Primark, which already has a presence in Spain, has recently opened an additional Spanish outlet in Barcelona.

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Spanish communications group Telef├│nica will be the exclusive mobile phone network in the UK, Germany, Spain and Ireland for the Palm Pre, the new handset that is widely seen as the closest rival to Apple's iPhone.  Telef├│nica's O2 network will have initial exclusivity in the UK, Ireland and Germany, while Movistar will have an exclusive deal in Spain.  The Palm Pre, which is both a phone and mini computer, is expected to go on sale in the specified European countries in October, so that orders can maximised in the run-up to Christmas.

Spanish communications group Telef├│nica will be the exclusive mobile phone network in the UK, Germany, Spain and Ireland for the Palm Pre, the new handset that is widely seen as the closest rival to Apple's iPhone.  Telef├│nica's O2 network will have initial exclusivity in the UK, Ireland and Germany, while Movistar will have an exclusive deal in Spain.  The Palm Pre, which is both a phone and mini computer, is expected to go on sale in the specified European countries in October, so that orders can maximised in the run-up to Christmas.

PepsiCo and its partner Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) have announced plans to invest $1 billion in Russia over three years.  New York-based PepsiCo,┬áone of the world's largest food and beverage companies, has said that the investment is consistent with its strategy to expand in emerging markets. The money will take PepsiCo and PBGÔÇÖs cumulative investment in Russia to over $4 billion.