German telephone company Mobilcom AG said its pre-tax profit rose five-fold to 111.9 million marks in the first nine months of 1998 while sales almost quadrupled to 904.3 million marks. Earnings per share rose five-fold to 4.25 marks from 0.76 marks in the year-earlier period. In the first six months of 1998, earnings per share were two marks. Mobilcom said the nine months results contained its subsidiary Topnet EDV und Datenkommunikation AG which was consolidated from August 1.

Veba sees '98 net profit drop: Veba AG, a diversified German utility, said that full-year net profit would fall "significantly" below the 1997 level after losses in its silicon wafer business and start-up costs at its telecommunication joint-venture. Veba, which also said nine-month pre-tax profit rose a stronger-than-expected 1.6 per cent to 3.7 billion marks, said its full-year pre-tax result would be "slightly" below the 1997 level. Veba said in a statement: "Pre-tax earnings,will be slightly below last year's level. Consolidated net income (after taxes and minority interests) will be significantly lower than the figure recorded in 1997."

Sanwa won't withdraw from US, Europe: Sanwa Bank Ltd said that it is winding down its efforts to trim down its branch network in the United States and Europe, but stressed that it does not plan to withdraw from operations in those areas. "We decided to trim down our office network in Europe and the United States as competition has been so strong that we could not make sufficient returns there," Ryosuke Tamakoshi, a director of Sanwa, told Reuters in an interview. "However, it is misleading to say we shifted our main focus to Asia. It is also not true that we will stop doing business with non-Japanese customers (in Europe and the US.)," he said. "We just intend to use our resources efficiently."

Metro says restructure is quantum leap: Europe's largest retailer, Germany's Metro AG, said on Friday that its restructuring planrepresented a "quantum leap" in the future positioning and competitiveness of the company. "The new concentration on four business areas means adramatic reduction in the complexity of management structures at Metro AG," Klaus Wiegandt, management board chairman, said in a speech for delivery at a news conference. "The internationalisation of Metro AG can therefore develop in a more focused way than previously," he said. Wiegandt said that Metro aimed to participate in business areas.