Danske Bank on Friday reported worse-than-expected first-quarter profits, hampered by macroeconomic uncertainty and turbulent financial markets, but it maintained its full-year profit guidance.

PARIS (Reuters) -France's economy growth unexpectedly ground to a halt in the first quarter as consumer spending dropped in the face of soaring energy prices and war in Ukraine, preliminary data from the INSEE official stats agency showed on Friday.

Italian energy group Eni said profits in the first quarter soared to beat expectations on the back of booming oil and gas prices stoked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Signify, the world's biggest maker of lights, reported a 9% jump in first-quarter core earnings on Friday, topping analysts' expectations, as growing demand for energy saving lights outweighed persistent supply chain problems.

Twitter buyer Elon Musk calls himself a free speech absolutist, but that could be put to the test in the Middle East where critics say authoritarian governments use the platform to track opponents and spread disinformation.

The Thai unit of Toyota Motor Corp on Friday signed an agreement with the Southeast Asian country on incentives to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in the major regional auto production base.