Germany has said it would be prepared to give a 4.5bn euros ($6.4bn: £3.9bn) loan to carmaker Opel if its favoured suitor is chosen to take over the firm.

Russian energy producer, Novatek, has posted a 2Q 2009 net profit of 7.178 billion Roubles under IFRS.

Russian mobile operator, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), has posted a 2Q 2009 net income of $563 million under U.S. GAAP.

Scandinavian airline SAS has said it will cut another 1,000 to 1,500 jobs as part of a fresh cost-cutting programme.