Irish airline Ryanair on Monday posted a 47 percent fall in first-half earnings and said falling second-half ticket prices offset by lower fuel costs would lead it to break even in the full year.

Australia's Qantas Airways agreed on Tuesday to pay a A$20 million (7.8 million pound) fine for its part in a price fixing case and vowed to help regulators as they probed 30 other airlines over the same issue.

Wolseley said on Thursday it planned to restructure its loss-making U.S. building materials business by closing branches, leaving some states and cutting another 3,000 jobs.

Shares in global miner Rio Tinto suffered their heaviest fall since the 1987 stock-market crash on Thursday, after it dismissed rumours it was warming to a $62 billion (38 billion pound) takeover by rival BHP Billiton.

Mining group Xstrata said it is well placed with financing as it posted an 8 percent fall in third-quarter mined copper output on Tuesday and a 12 percent rise in coal production.

Paper producer Mondi Ltd forecast a 10-15 percent drop in annual underlying operating profit on Monday as a gloomier economic outlook hits business, knocking its shares as much as 7 percent.

Engineer Renishaw posted a 75 percent rise in first-quarter profit and said it was encouraged by the continuing strength of its order book, despite worldwide economic conditions.

Adecco, the world's largest staffing company, said on Tuesday it would not make an offer for Michael Page, sending shares in its British rival down by over 30 percent.

Engineer IMI posted a 35 percent rise in first half profit on Thursday and said it expected further progress during the rest of the year, although it might continue to see some areas of weakness.

Services group Rentokil Initial on Friday warned its recovery could take up to five years after first-half profits plunged over 50 percent as difficult economic conditions hamper turnaround plans.

Michael Page, the staffing group that has rejected a bid approach from Swiss rival Adecco, reported a 22 percent increase in first-half pretax profit on Monday despite weakening trading conditions in some markets.

Recruitment company Michael Page International rejected an approach worth 1.3 billion pounds from Swiss rival Adecco, saying it materially undervalued the company.

Weir Group, which makes pumps and valves for moving minerals, oil and gas, said it expected more progress this year helped by acquisitions, as it posted an 85 percent rise in first-half profit.

Smurfit Kappa expects business conditions to stay challenging this year but the Irish paper packaging maker will meet market expectations, sending its shares 12 percent higher on Monday.

Centrica is ready to offer a cash sweetener for the government's stake in British Energy in order to gain backing for a merger with the nuclear power generator, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Industrial materials group Cookson beat forecasts with a 45 percent rise in first-half profit, driven by its ceramics business and a recent acquisition, and was upbeat about its full-year prospects.

Travis Perkins said on Wednesday that is operating profit increased 0.2 per cent to £156 million in the first half of the year. The builders merchant reported a rise in revenue of 5.4 per cent to £1,671 million.

Bodycote Plc said on Tuesday that its first half pre-tax profit increased 4.9 per cent to £44.7 million. Revenue at the engineering firm was reported as being up 20.5 per cent to £382.6 million.

SThree Plc said on Monday that its pre-tax profit after exceptional items rose 13.9 per cent to £23.8 million in the six months ended 1 June.