Greece's fourth-largest lender, Piraeus Bank beat forecasts with a 46 percent rise in first quarter net profit helped by expansion in retail credit. Its profit rose to 138.5 million euros and the comparison excluded last year's one-off gain of 153 million euros from the sale of a stake in Bank of Cyprus. Analysts on average
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Theodoros Aristodemou was elected the new Chairman of Bank of Cyprus in a tight vote, beating his close rival former Finance Minister Michalis Sarris. Aristodemou received the vote of 9 members of the Board, against 8 for Sarris and 1 abstention. Andreas Artemis held to his post as Vice-Chairman. The Bank of Cyprus Shareholders’ Annual
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Oil stocks should catch up By Santosh Menon The price of oil could rise to $200 a barrel in the next two years before it starts to seriously hit demand, fund manager Tim Guinness said. "I am increasingly comfortable with the analysis which says the oil price is going to have to go to $200
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ECB may need to ease rates soon By James Saft Europe is next in line to feel the impact from tighter credit, a tough situation for an economy heavily dependent on bank financing. The European Central Bank's April bank lending officer survey showed a continuing sharp tightening in lending standards combined with a weakening in
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British house prices are likely to fall 5 percent this year, a Reuters poll of economists showed, and many believe they could tumble twice that as soaring consumer inflation restricts the scope for interest rate cuts. Forecasts for 2008 house prices on an annual basis ranged from a 10 percent fall to a 2.9 percent
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Cyprus property sales registered a 17% Year-on-Year reduction in the first quarter of 2008 according to data from the Cyprus Land Registry. The value of property deals transacted in the first quarter of 2008 reached EUR 794 mln compared to EUR 956 mln in the same period in 2007 for a 17% decline. A similar
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Hewlett-Packard Co is in talks to buy technology outsourcing company Electronic Data Systems Corp for $12 billion to $13 billion in a deal which would vault it to a close second to IBM in technology services. The acquisition would be HP's biggest since its $19 billion acquisition of Compaq in 2002. Shares of EDS rose
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Societe Generale, the French bank hit by the world's worst rogue trader scandal, reported a 23.4 percent fall in first quarter net profit although earnings came in above the average market forecast. Net profit fell to 1.096 billion euros ($1.69 billion), mainly due to a 79 percent fall in net profit at its corporate and
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U.S. office supplies retailer Staples Inc raised its bid for Dutch peer Corporate Express to 8 euros a share, calling the offer the best option available to the latter's shareholders. Corporate Express repeatedly turned down Staples' original bid of 7.25 euros a share — a deal valued at about 2.5 billion euros ($3.83 billion) —
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Government delegation headed by Nicos Nicolaides, Minister of Communications and Works, visited on Monday 12th May the construction site of the new terminal of Pafos. The delegation was updated on the works and the agreed schedule, by Hermes Airports Ltd and the representatives of the construction company Bouygues Batiment International. Immediately after, the delegation toured
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