NTT, Microsoft agree on business tie-up: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) said on Thursday that it and Microsoft Corp of the United States had agreed on a broad tie-up in the electronic commerce business. Under the agreement, NTT would market electronic commercebusiness solution packages based on Microsoft's software for web-servers starting from September.

BHP does not have any ships for sale: The Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd on Thursday refuted a newspaper report which said the company planned to sell its11-vessel fleet. "No, we are not selling our ships and we don't have any ships on the market for sale," said BHP spokeswoman Kym Lynch. The report in the Australian newspaper quoted BHP transport chief John Campbell as telling a federal government forum on the shipping industry that BHP did not envision owning ships in the future. Lynch said Campbell's comment was not quoted in the right context.

Novartis forecasts higher 1998 profit: Swiss pharmaceuticals and nutrition group Novartis AG said it expected pharmaceuticals sales to pick up in the second half and for its 1998 group net income to be higher as compared to 1997. "Pharmaceuticals sales growth is expected to gradually accelerate in the second half, reflecting underlying growth in prescriptions," Novartis said in its first half statement.

Volvo says Q2 sales strong in Europe, N.America: Swedish vehicle maker AB Volvo enjoyed strong sales in North America and Europe in the second quarter which more than outweighed declines in Asia, thecompany said on Thursday. "Strong sales in Europe and North America compensated for the lower sales and loss of income in markets in South-east Asia," chief executive Leif Johansson said in the company's first-half earningsstatement, according to the company release.

Siemens lowers profit forecast, sets revamp: Siemens AG on Thursday lowered its earnings forecast for its 1997/1998 business year and announced a short-term restructuring programme that will affect its results in the final quarter. The electrical engineering group said it no longer expected its profit in the year to September 30 to outpace sales. It said in a statement it had acute difficulties in its semiconductor, KWU power station construction, private communications and transport technology divisions.

Siemens mulls floating units in revamp: German electronics group Siemens AG said that it was examining new ways of divesting itself of some of its units and was considering floating some of its subsidiaries on the stockexchange. "This includes floating some parts of the group on the stock exchange. We have already carried this out successfully with Rofin Sinar," group chief executive Heinrich von Pierer said in the text of a speech, referring to the flotation of a U.S Technology unit. The group also said it plans to convert to the U.S. GAAP(Generally Agreed Accounting Principles) system in the 1999/2000 business year.

UK's Atlantic Tel to raise fresh funds: Britain's Atlantic Telecom Plc said on Thursday it was placing 33.3 million shares at 150 pence each to raise 50 million pounds. Conditional on the placing, the company would also secure a senior debt facility of 60 million pounds. The 110 million pound funding package would allow Atlantic to finance fully its expansion plans in Scotland covering Greater Glasgow and the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh.

Britannic says H1 premiums up: British insurance group Britannic Assurance said on Thursday its new single premiums regular premiums had risen22.9 per cent to 48.22 million pounds in the half year to June 30, 1998. The group said its new regular premiums had risen 14.1 per cent to 21.3 million pounds.

S&P Confirms "AA-" rating for Scor: Standard & Poor's said it had confirmed its "AA-" rating for Financial solidity for French reinsurer Scor with a stable outlook. "The confirmation reflects Scor's good competitive position on the global reinsurance market, its acknowledged technical expertise, its excellent capitalisation level and its good operational results", the statement said.