Cyprus's Marfin Popular Bank's nine-month net profit tumbled by more than a third, it said on Thursday, as weak fixed-income markets and higher loan losses offset a rise in net interest. The bank, headquartered in Cyprus, said net profit for the first nine months fell by 36.8% to 90.9 mln euros from 143.9 mln a
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The Irish bailout has triggered a legal clause allowing the underwriters of Piraeus Bank's cash call to walk away, but the Greek bank said the deal was on track. The documents for the 800 mln euro rights issue include an exit trigger allowing banks to cancel their commitment to underwrite the cash call in case
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The United Nations has warned that Cyprus reunification talks run the risk of "foundering fatally" if a deal cannot be reached on the ethnically partitioned island by the second quarter of next year. In a report to the U.N. Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said peace talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not be
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Contagion spreads from Ireland to Portugal and then to Spain, forcing European leaders to exhaust the $1 trillion bailout fund they set up only half a year ago to defend their ambitious single currency project. Sniping within the 16-nation euro zone mounts and popular support for the euro erodes as German taxpayers rebel against a
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Retail trade in Cyprus continued its recovery in September, according to provisional figures from the Statistical Service, as the volume index rose by 2.5% compared with September 2009. Compared with the previous month, the index rose by 0.9%. One positive sign is that big ticket items are on the rise again. Sales of electrical goods
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Smartphones and Twitter were the hottest products in Japan in 2010 and travel and leisure were back on the menu, an ad agency survey showed, as penny-pinching consumers rediscovered their fun side. Flat-screen TVs equipped for digital broadcasting placed fourth in Dentsu's <4324.T> annual "Hit Product Recognition Survey" and energy-saving appliances ranked eighth. Overseas flights
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Industrial production in Cyprus rose by 2.4% over the year earlier in September, having risen by 6.1% in August. However, for the subsector of manufacturing, the index recorded a decrease of 1.4% compared with September 2009. Industrial production was therefore held up only by a 9.9% increase in mining and quarrying, an 11.9% increase in
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The legendary rock band, Rolling Stones, never really required any extra help to promote their songs, but collaborating with a popular franchise always helps, without a doubt. Two of their singles “Gimme Shelter” and “Sympathy for the Devil” were associated with the latest action videogame release, “Call of Duty: Black Ops”, that boosted the single
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Portugal will probably follow Greece and Ireland at some point in seeking bailout funds from the European Union, according to a majority of economists in a monthly Reuters poll. Thirty-four out of the 50 analysts who answered an extra question in Reuters' monthly interest rates poll said Lisbon would be forced to seek outside financial
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Gem Diamonds Ltd has sold two major gems found at its Letseng mine in Lesotho for a total of $22.7 mln. The London-listed company said on Thursday it sold the 196-carat and 184-carat rough white diamonds by tender in Antwerp to the South African Diamond Corporation (SAFDICO). "It is very pleasing that Letseng's diamonds continue
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