By Ben Berkowitz and Gilbert Kreijger The credit crisis has taken the traditional drivers of consolidation in the Dutch insurance industry out of the game, but new players are expected to step in as soon as this year and roll up a number of attractive assets coming to market. Names like life insurer Robein Leven
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The start of the new month will test the resolve of investors to push world stocks to new 10-month highs with Japan's election and a G20 meeting greeting investors returning to markets after northern summer doldrums. After Israel became the first key economy to raise interest rates this week, the London G20 gathering and central
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Britain's economy shrank by a smaller-than-expected 0.7 percent in the second quarter of this year after official statisticians upgraded their estimates of industrial output, keeping alive hopes of a near-term recovery. The Office for National Statistics said on Friday that the revisions reduced the annual drop in economic output to 5.5 percent from 5.6 percent
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Small changes in the energy output of the sun can have a major impact on global weather patterns, such as the intensity of the Indian monsoon, that could be predicted years in advance, a team of scientists said. The sun swings through an 11-year cycle measured in the number of sun spots on the surface
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More than 850 people including 200 unaccompanied children are being held in shocking conditions at a detention centre for illegal immigrants on the Greek island of Lesvos, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday. The report on the centre at Pagani adds to concern already expressed by UNHCR about Greece's treatment of migrants. UNHCR
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A cooperation agreement between the Republic of Cyprus and the European Space Agency (ESA) was signed in Nicosia. The agreement was signed on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Works Makis Constantinides and on behalf of the ESA by Director of Legal Affairs and External Relations
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Cyprus Government's fiscal policy for the year 2010 will be aimed at maintaining the deficits on reasonable levels and supporting the real economy to the greatest possible extent. Minister of Finance Charilaos Stavrakis told a press conference on Thursday that the fiscal policy will be announced officially, along with the state's budget for 2010, in
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Marfin Popular said first-half net profit fell 59% to EUR 90.3 mln during the first half of 2009 compared to EUR 220 mln profits a year ago in the same period, but said it saw a turnaround in profit in the second half of the year. In 1H09, the Group booked EUR 19 mln in
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SFS Group Public Company Ltd (SFS) issued its H1 09 results with profitability declining by 94% to EUR871.000 compared to EUR 14.6mln in H1 08. Group revenue decreased by 28.2% to EUR 39.9mln compared to EUR 55.7 mln in the corresponding period of 2008 mainly driven by the significant drop in net income from financial
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Marfin Popular Bank’s financial results for the second quarter of 2009 indicated a net profit rise of 26% to 50.3 million EUR compared to the first quarter of the year, due to significant improvement in operating income combined with cost containment. In a statement, Marfin said that the Group’s pre-provision profit increased 46% on a
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