TIME WARNER CABLE PROFIT DROPS AS SUBSCRIPTIONS WANE

Time Warner Cable, still awaiting regulatory approval for its deal to be bought by larger peer Comcast, said its 3Q profit fell 6% to $499 million, missing Wall Street expectations as the company lost subscribers.

BARCLAYS TAKES $800M PROVISION RELATED TO FOREX PROBES

Barclays reported a fresh legal provision related to investigations into the alleged manipulation of the foreign-exchange market, weighing down what was otherwise a brighter quarterly performance.

CONOCOPHILLIPS'S EARNINGS RISE ON HIGHER PRODUCTION

ConocoPhillips said its 3Q earnings grew 9% to $2.7 billion on increased oil and gas production, despite a drop in selling prices. For the full year, ConocoPhillips reaffirmed its outlook for 3% to 5% volume growth.

MASTERCARD PROFIT RISES 15%

MasterCard reported a profit of $1.02 billion, or 87 cents a share, as the credit-card company posted higher revenue and payment volumes. The results topped analysts' expectations. Revenue rose 13% to $2.5 billion.

WAL-MART WEIGHS MATCHING ONLINE PRICES

Wal-Mart Stores is testing a program to match online prices from rivals like Amazon.com this holiday season, a move that could make the discounter more competitive but also cut into profits.

ALTRIA BOOSTED BY HIGHER CIGARETTE PRICES AS VOLUMES FALL

Altria said its profit rose slightly to $1.397 billion as higher prices offset yet another decline in cigarette volumes. Total revenue, excluding excise taxes, fell slightly to $4.75 billion. The tobacco company's results topped analysts' expectations.

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL POSTS RISE IN PROFIT

Royal Dutch Shell reports a rise in third-quarter earnings, with increases in both upstream and downstream, despite falling oil prices.

ENI SEES CHALLENGING MARKET AS PROFIT DROPS

Eni SpA said that 3Q net profit plunged as the Italian oil and gas company didn't repeat last year's large one-time gain and suffered the effects of lower oil prices and a sluggish world economy.

BOMBARDIER PROFIT FALLS, BUT BEAT ESTIMATES

The Montreal-based maker of planes and trains said its overall third-quarter profit fell, hurt by one-time items, but results were better than analysts had expected and revenue improved.

LUFTHANSA LOWERS 2015 EARNINGS OUTLOOK

Lufthansa says that it wouldn't meet its already reduced earnings targets for next year because of a weaker global economic outlook, but confirmed its 2014 targets.

AUSTRIAN LENDER TO SELL NETWORK TO ADVENT INTERNATIONAL

Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International decided to sell its southeastern European network to the private-equity firm Advent International. The network comprises six banking units in five countries and assets of around $10.69 billion.

VALE SWINGS TO SURPRISE LOSS

Brazilian mining giant Vale SA surprised investors by coughing up a net loss of $1.44 billion in the third quarter due a sharp depreciation in the local currency and the lowest iron-ore prices since 2010.

AVIVA: U.K. BANKS SELL INSURANCE AGAIN

British banks have tentatively started selling insurance again in their branches for the first time since the start of a GBP21 billion ($33.63 billion) consumer mis-selling scandal.

VOLKSWAGEN PROFIT RISES

Volkswagen reported a sharply higher profit and steady sales growth in the three months to the end of September, beating analysts' forecasts and reaffirming it is on track reach its target of 10 million vehicles sales this year.

CIGNA RAISES OUTLOOK AS RESULTS EXCEED EXPECTATIONS

Cigna's 2Q profit fell to $534 million, even as total operating revenue, which includes net investment income and mail-order pharmacy revenue, improved 8.7% to $8.73 billion. The firm again raised its guidance.

FUJIFILM PROMISES EBOLA DRUGS, EARNINGS IMPACT UNCLEAR

Fujifilm will prioritize providing its drug Avigan for those suffering from Ebola, a company executive said. The company also reported a net profit of about $373 million for the April-September fiscal first half.

ALCATEL-LUCENT NARROWS LOSSES

Network-equipment company Alcatel-Lucent SA narrowed its loss in the third quarter to EUR18 million and reduced the amount of cash it burns after wrestling down costs.

TOSHIBA, FUJITSU, NEC SQUEEZE OUT PROFIT

Three of Japan's biggest electronics companies reported modest earnings gains for the first half of the financial year ending March, helped by the yen's weakness and restructuring, but held back by a soft domestic economy.

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS 3RD QUARTER PROFIT FALLS SHARPLY

Samsung Electronics on Thursday posted a sharply lower third-quarter net profit as its mobile business continued to lose ground to low-cost Chinese smartphone makers.