The bottomline

YONKERS: Lexus topped all automotive brands in Consumer Reports magazine’s 2013 brand report card. Japanese automakers again dominated the rankings, taking eight of the top 10 spots.

Lexus vehicles are rarely sporty, but they earned the top score of 79 points out of 100 because of plush and reliable vehicles, the magazine said Tuesday. Subaru and Mazda were tied for second place with a score of 76. Toyota and Acura, Honda’s luxury brand, rounded out the top five tied at 74. Honda and Scion were next at 72, followed by Audi and Nissan’s upscale Infiniti brand, both at 70. MercedesBenz finished 10th with a score of 69.

The ratings of 26 automotive brands, closely watched by consumers, are based on the magazine’s average road tests and predicted reliability scores from surveys of subscribers. (AP) SAN FRANCISCO: Tech billionaire Larry Ellison, who bought his own Hawaiian island last year, now has an airline to go with it.

Island Air, a regional carrier based in the Pacific island state, announced Wednesday that it had closed its sale to a newly formed holding company owned by Ellison, co-founder and chief executive of business software firm Oracle.

“This is another major investment and commitment to Hawaii,” said a statement by Paul Marinelli, vice president of Lawrence Investments, LLC, the Ellison-owned holding company.

“We understand the critical importance of transportation in an island state and we will ensure that Island Air strengthens its role, capacity and service to the people of Hawaii. We recognize the need for providing options for travelers, and we believe Island Air has tremendous potential to deliver value to both residents and visitors.” (AFP) LONDON: Three fund management employees have been arrested in London on suspicion of insider dealing and market abuse after police and regulators launched dawn raids on their homes and offices in the capital, the second such swoop this year.

Britain’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) said on Wednesday the three men, aged 33, 37 and 39, who are not linked to any other current insider dealing investigation, were in custody awaiting questioning after six premises were searched.

The men have not been charged and are expected to be released on bail later on Wednesday. The FSA declined to comment further. (RTRS) BRUSSELS/DUBLIN: EU antitrust regulators have blocked a third attempt by NEW YORK: Electronics chain Best Buy Co says it is cutting 400 jobs at its headquarters as part of a larger $725 million cost-cutting plan.

The cuts are part of a move to save $150 million in selling, general and administrative costs. Best Buy says they’re the first phase of the larger costcutting plan that new CEO Hubert Joly announced in November.

Best Buy has been seeking to turn around results as it faces increased competition from online and discount retailers. Minneapolis-based Best Buy did not say how many people in total it employs at its headquarters. It did say no sales staffers in stores are affected. It has 170,000 staffers worldwide. (AP) Ryanair to buy Irish rival Aer Lingus, a ruling Europe’s biggest low-cost airline called politically motivated and vowed to challenge in court.

The European Commission, which vetoed Ryanair’s first takeover bid for Aer Lingus in 2007, said on Wednesday Ryanair had not offered sufficient concessions to allay concerns about the combined company’s dominance or monopoly on 46 routes. (RTRS) BERLIN: Airbus parent company EADS NV posted a 47 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit Wednesday after taking costly charges at its helicopter and defense electronics divisions.

The aerospace giant recorded a 325 million euros ($425 million) net profit in the October-December period, down from the previous year’s 612 million euros. But for the full year, its net earnings were up 19 percent at 1.23 billion euros from 1.03 billion euros in 2011.

“There’s still some way to go to meet our profitability targets,” said chief executive Tom Enders.

Revenues rose 17 percent during the fourth quarter to 19.22 billion euros, with the core Airbus division posting a 21 percent increase to almost 13 billion euros. (AP) LONDON: ITV, Britain’s largest freeto-air broadcaster, said a push to grow non-advertising revenue meant it was able to pay a £156 million ($236 million) special dividend after full-year earnings rose 13 percent.

“We want to reward all our shareholders equally and to reward shareholders who are staying with us as we grow,” chief executive Adam Crozier told reporters on Wednesday.

ITV, home to soap opera “Coronation Street”, period drama “Downton Abbey” and variety show “Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway”, said having ended 2012 with 206 million pounds net cash it would pay a special dividend of 4 pence per share as well as a 2.6 pence full-year dividend. (RTRS) MADRID: Spanish energy group Repsol said Tuesday it had sold its liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets to Shell for $6.65 billion (5.1 billion euros) in cash and debt.

“The agreement, which generates a $3.5 billion pre-tax capital gain for Repsol, includes the assets in Trinidad & Tobago (Atlantic LNG), Peru LNG and Bahia de Bizkaia Electricidad (BBE) as well as the LNG sale contracts and time charters,” the company said in a statement.

Repsol said it is keeping its LNG assets in Canada, and signed a supply agreement with Shell, as the current low gas prices in North America would not allow it to earn a return on the Canaport regasification terminal. (AFP) MUMBAI: Standard Chartered Plc is in talks to buy Morgan Stanley’s Indian private wealth management unit, which manages about $1 billion including loans, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said on Wednesday.

A couple of Indian financial services companies have also shown interest in buying the wealth management business, and a formal bidding process is expected to start soon, one of the sources told Reuters. The source did not name the companies.

Both the sources declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media. (RTRS)