Charter and Tomkins point to higher demand

The engineering companies say a recovery in the automotive industry has helped drive a slight improvement in sales but rule out a rapid recovery following last autumn’s collapse

• ABB set to unveil $1bn third-quarter profits
• Amec enters S Korean energy sector

Shanks sees underlying profits fall 41%

A drop in manufacturing and construction activity in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK hurt revenue across the waste disposal group, which says the tough market has at least stabilised

Adecco sees blue-collar upturn

The world’s biggest temporary employment group has revealed higher demand for blue-collar workers in France and the US, two of its main markets

Sanyo sell-off startles traders

Sanyo Electric’s shares plunge 20% after Panasonic started its tender offer for the company – in spite of the price having been public for nearly a year

‘Boundary stretch’ warning to auditors

The Financial Reporting Council has urged caution on the industry amid concerns that some recent deals may be blurring the post-Enron divide between external and internal audit services

Weir slips on sales but guides up on profits

Weir Group, the industrial pump and value maker, continued to suffer from muted demand during its third quarter but said it was seeing the “bottoming out of the downturn”

Finnish pulp group to close four mills

UPM-Kymmene says that it would cut 870 jobs, close four mills and cut production at others in the first half of 2010 as the industry battles chronic over-capacity

Volex sees cable demand curling up

A fall in demand for consumer electronics and IT products dents profits at the maker of electric and telecom cables, but it forecasts an improvement in the second half of the year