Reuters Company News

Saks Fifth Avenue owner Hudson's Bay Company is preparing a bond offering to shore up its finances, the latest retailer to do so after the novel coronavirus pandemic forced widespread store closures, according to people familiar with the matter.

Abbvie Inc said on Wednesday it is partnering with Danish biotech firm Genmab AS to jointly develop and market cancer treatments, as it looks to expand its cancer franchise.

Facebook, Google and Twitter should provide monthly reports on their fight against disinformation, two senior EU officials said on Wednesday as they called out Russia and China for their roles in the spread of fake news.

A cross-border European TV merger would make little sense, the CEO of German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media said on Wednesday, pushing back against calls for closer cooperation from Italy's Mediaset .

* Inditex to pay 0.35 euro/share dividend for 2019 (Adds comment from conference call, shares, analyst comment)

China Express Airlines said on Wednesday it had signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) to buy a total of 100 ARJ21 and C919 passenger aircraft for delivery from 2020.

Singapore on Wednesday approved the use of Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir for the treatment of severely ill patients with COVID-19 infection.

Two drugs used to treat inflammatory diseases and cancer are being tested as potential therapies for patients with COVID-19, the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford announced on Wednesday.

The head of the NATO military alliance said on Wednesday that the West could not ignore the rise of China and so it was important that Britain had a review of the role of Huawei in its 5G network to ensure its security.

* Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote http://tmsnrt.rs/2hwV9Hv

* Shareholders circle, but showdown at AGM unlikely (Adds CEO speech to AGM, background on shareholders)

* U.S. Fed set to release policy statement at 1800 GMT (Adds comment, updates prices)

Singapore's Health Sciences Authority said on Wednesday it granted conditional approval for Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir for the treatment of some patients with COVID-19 infection.

German minerals miner K+S aims to agree a sale of its salt business in the Americas by the end of 2020, Chief Executive Burkhard Lohr said on Wednesday.

China's outstanding total social financing (TSF) was 268.39 trillion yuan ($38.01 trillion) at the end of May, up 12.5% from a year earlier, the central bank said on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday chided British bank HSBC for backing moves by China to end Hong Kong's autonomy, saying such "corporate kowtows" got little in return from Beijing.

Japanese biotech AnGes Inc expects its coronavirus vaccine to be ready as early as the first half of 2021, if it can overcome supply chain and production hurdles, the company's founder said.

Stock markets seem keen to return to the black after Tuesday's stumble. Europe has opened 0.7% higher and U.S. futures are up around half a percent. But focus today is squarely on the U.S. Federal Reserve; while it is expected to maintain its interest rate and leave its asset purchase policy unchanged, the question is: will it act to cap longer-dated borrowing costs?

German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media faces massive headwinds due to the coronavirus pandemic but is focusing on making its business "storm-proof" and achieving stronger medium-term profitability, its CEO said on Wednesday.

World stock markets hovered below three-month highs on Wednesday, while the dollar stumbled ahead of a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve.