Tokyo - Honda Motor Co announced Monday that it would appoint a new president in June to deal with a sales slowdown caused by the yen's surge against other major currencies and the dwindling consumer appetite amid the global economic downturn.

Japan's second-largest carmaker plans to promote Senior Managing Director Takanobu Ito to president. The decision was expected to be approved at a shareholders' meeting in June, Honda said.

In light of the highly uncertain global economic conditions, Hewlett-Packard, world’s largest PC maker, has instituted pay cuts for all of its employees worldwide.

Almost all departments, including sales and administration divisions, will be affected by the company's "work-sharing" plan, initially implemented for certain workers and factories, in order to avoid layoffs.

The company, however, feels that a company-wide workforce reduction is not the best solution for the current global economic crises.

Spice Group has evinced interest in acquiring stake in the fraud-hit IT company.

The group said that it would invest in Satyam Computer Services only if the software company gives the majority stake in it.

The Company Law Board (CLB) on Thursday sanctioned Satyam’s plan to raise its capital to sell around 26% to a strategic investor via preferential allotment of shares.

Bharti Airtel, Asia's leading integrated telecom services provider on Friday said that it has hiked its stake in Bharti Hexacom to 70 per cent by acquiring 1.1 per cent from a Kuwait-based firm.

Under the deal, Bharti Airtel Ltd has acquired 1.11 per cent stake, or 2,780,306 equity shares, in Bharti Hexacom Ltd from Mobile Telecommunications Co, KSC, Kuwait.

With this latest acquisition, the company's shareholding in Bharti Hexacom stands higher at 70 per cent from 68.89 per cent.

New York  - Deere and Co, the world's largest maker of farm equipment, Wednesday posted a 45-per-cent drop in profits, to 204 million dollars, citing the recession and tight credit situation that constrains farmers from buying new machines.

Revenues sank slightly by 1 per cent, to 5.1 billion dollars, and could be further hurt by a drought in Latin America, the company said.

The company also lowered its projections for 2009 from 1.9 billion dollars to 1.5 billion dollars.

London, Feb.