Crown Holdings Inc, the maker of about a fifth of the world's beverage cans, increased its stake in Hellas Can SA to 80.5 percent after a public offer, falling short of a target to acquire all of its Greek unit. Crown's Societe de Participations Carnaudmetalbox SA acquired almost 2 million shares offered by investors and through purchases on the stock market, the company said today in a statement to the Athens Exchange, adding another 4.6 percent to Crown's existing stake. (Bloomberg)

SOFIA (Reuters) -US ITT Corp said yesterday it aims to bid for a contract to supply Bulgaria's army with high-tech military defense communication systems and bring them up to NATO standards. Bulgaria is preparing to launch a tender to upgrade and rebuild its once-Soviet defense communication systems and hopes to open it by the end of the year, the Defense Ministry said. ITT Corp, which makes night-vision systems, military radios and a range of other products, told a news conference it was ready to invest in the Balkan country if it won the deal. Industry sources said the investment could reach 400 million euros to 600 million euros.

Turkish Airlines (THY), one of the fastest-growing airlines in Europe, carried 4.54 million passengers in the first quarter, up 15.8 percent on the same period a year earlier, the airline said yesterday. The Turkish flag carrier said in a statement to the stock exchange that available seat kilometers rose 9.9 percent year-on-year to 9.91 million and revenue passenger kilometers rose 15.1 percent to 6.94 million. THY has said it aims to increase passenger traffic to 24 million in 2008. Last year it transported 19.6 million passengers. (Reuters)

Morgan Stanley said as part of its global emerging markets strategy it had downgraded Turkey and Hungary to «equal-weight» from «overweight» due to deteriorating political risk scores, the investment bank said in its global emerging markets strategy note dated April 10. (Reuters)

Turkish fuel retailer Petrol Ofisi said yesterday it would push ahead with refinery plans in the Mediterranean oil hub of Ceyhan, despite uncertainty triggered by legal changes to the licensing process. The company's bid to build a refinery in the eastern Mediterranean could be undermined by an energy body's regulatory changes, an Energy Ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday. (Reuters)