TOKYO (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco has agreed to buy from Japan's Sumitomo Chemical ( SOMMF ) a 22.5% stake in their petrochemical joint venture Petro Rabigh for $702 million, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday. Under the deal, Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical ( SOMMF ) will each provide $702 million in funding to Petro Rabigh and waive...

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's Honda Motor ( HMC ) reported a 23% increase in first-quarter profit on Wednesday as the automaker benefited from a weaker yen, higher pricing and growing hybrid vehicle sales in the U.S. and its home market. Japan's second-biggest carmaker said quarterly operating profit totalled 484.7 billion yen ($3.3 billion) in the April-June period, compared with an average...

TOKYO (Reuters) -Sony ( SONY ) on Wednesday booked a 10% rise in operating profit in the April-June quarter, beating analyst estimates, boosted by the strength of its industry-leading image sensor business. Profit at the Japanese tech and entertainment conglomerate was 279 billion yen ($1.90 billion), compared with an average estimate of 275 billion yen from seven analysts polled by...

(Reuters) - German sportswear maker Puma on Wednesday narrowed down its outlook for full-year core profit, citing expected higher freight costs and continued muted consumer sentiment, especially in China. It now expects operating profit (EBIT) to come in a range between 620 million and 670 million euros ($676-$731 million)compared to between 620 million to 700 million euros previously. It confirmed...