By Liana B. Baker (Reuters) - ESPN, the sports channel that is Walt Disney Co's most profitable unit, is cutting 300 to 400 jobs across the company and closing a small Denver office, a person with knowledge of the cuts said. The job cuts, comprising 4 to 6 percent of ESPN's staff of 7,000, include open positions that will …

By Tom Bergin LONDON (Reuters) - Apple's ability to shelter billions of dollars of income from tax has depended on an unusual loophole in the Irish tax code that helps the country compete with other countries for investment and jobs. A U.S. Senate investigation revealed Tuesday that Apple, maker of iPhones, iPads and Mac …

By Deepa Seetharaman DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co is adding a week of production at 20 North American factories this year to build an additional 40,000 vehicles and help sustain its gains in U.S. market share. The second-largest U.S. automaker said on Wednesday that those factories will be idled for just one week this …

By Noel Randewich SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intel Corp's new chief executive, Brian Krzanich, has launched a sweeping company reorganization and created a unit aimed at growing its market share in mobile technology. The shakeup, announced internally just days after the 30-year veteran took the helm, places most of the main …

By Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin CORK/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland said on Tuesday it was not to blame for Apple Inc's low global tax payments and had no special rate deal with the company after the U.S. Senate said it paid little or no tax on tens of billions of dollars in profits stashed in Irish subsidiaries. The …

By Luke Baker BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European leaders will discuss how to combat aggressive tax avoidance by major companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple at a summit on Wednesday, and cut the estimated 1 trillion euros a year the EU loses to tax evasion or avoidance. The four-hour summit was originally called to discuss …

By Christiaan Hetzner FRANKFURT (Reuters) - How many Mercedes staff does it take to sell a car? The answer, in the luxury carmaker's German showrooms, is more than it takes to shift an Audi - just part of the cost gap Daimler wants to close with its premium rivals. Among the top three, Mercedes depends on its unprofitable …

By Dhanya Skariachan (Reuters) - Lowe's Cos Inc reported a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by colder-than-usual weather at the start of the spring selling season and strong competition from larger rival Home Depot Inc . The results contrasted sharply with those of Home Depot and signaled that Lowe's, …

By David Henry TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase & Co's outspoken chairman and chief executive, won a vote of confidence on Tuesday as shareholders recommended that he keep his chairman title, giving him a greater margin of approval than last year. Investors who had pressed for Dimon to be stripped …

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc said on Wednesday it will spin off its majority stake in animal health business Zoetis Inc to shareholders by allowing them to swap Pfizer stock for Zoetis stock at a 7 percent discount. Pfizer, the largest drugmaker, sold Zoetis shares in an initial public offering in February that raised $2.2 billion. …

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Tuesday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 closing at new all-time highs as Federal Reserve officials' comments eased some concerns that the central bank could start reducing its stimulus program. Dow component Home Depot gave the market a lift after the world's largest home …

(Reuters) - Toll Brothers Inc posted a 46 percent rise in quarterly profit as the largest U.S. luxury homebuilder sold more homes at higher prices, indicating that the housing recovery is spreading across the industry. Record-low interest rates and rising rents have encouraged people to buy homes. Ground-breaking to build …

By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus is helping the U.S. economy recover, and the central bank needs to see further signs of traction before taking its foot off the gas, central bank chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday. In testimony that offered no sign that …