Sydney - US-based coffee chain Starbucks is to close 61 Australian outlets by the weekend, resulting in the loss of 685 jobs, the company announced in a statement Tuesday.

Tokyo - Sony Corp on Tuesday reported a net profit fall of 47.4 per cent in the April-June period to 34.98 billion yen (324.78 million dollars) compared with the same period last year.

Sony's net profit decline was attributed mainly to the yen's advance against the US dollar and the lack of blockbuster hit movies in its filmmaking division.

The company's operating profit for the April-June quarter fell 39.5 per cent to 73.44 billion yen, while sales were up 0.1 per cent to 1.98 trillion yen.

Berlin - German industry is planning to boost its investment in China's booming economy, a survey released Tuesday said.

Drawn up by Germany's Chamber of Trade and Industry (DIHK), the survey found that 40 per cent of German companies that are already active in China plan to increase their investment in the Asian powerhouse economy.

The DHIK estimated that about 200,000 German jobs are now dependent on exports to China.

"Germany's trade with Asia in 2008 and 2009 will be focused on German-Chinese economic relations," the DIHK said releasing the survey.

"A third of German exports to Asia will be for customers in China," the chamber said.

Paris - The two heads of the troubled French-American telecommunications equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent, Pat Russo and Serge Tchuruk, have decided to resign, the company announced on Tuesday.

Russo, the company's chief executive officer, is to leave her post by the end of the year but, at the request of the Board of Directors, will run the company until a replacement has been found.

"I am very pleased with the progress we are making especially in light of a difficult market environment," said Pat Russo. "That said, I believe it is the right time for me to step down.

London - Oil giant British Petrole

Tokyo - Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) on Monday said it expected a net loss of 280 billion yen (2.6 billion dollars) due to surging oil prices and costs of procurement from other power suppliers.

The company's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station, which is the world's largest by output capacity, has been suspended since an earthquake hit central Niigata province on July 16 last year.

The company said its net loss would be a record 76.24 billion yen for the three months through June 30, compared to a profit of 31.07 billion yen during the same period a year before, the company said.

But TEPCO's revenue was expected to rise 3.4 per cent to 6.05 trillion yen from an initial projection of 5.85 trillion yen.