Paris/ AFP French bank Societe Generale served investors a pleasant surprise with third-quarter results, sending its shares soaring. Although falling by 2.4 percent to 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), net profit still came in well above analysts’ forecasts of 888 million euros according to Factset, a data provider. Shares in Societe Generale, France’s third largest bank after BNP Paribas ...
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Deutsche Bank to shrink UK office space post job cuts
Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG plans to move some workers from a City of London office building to the Canary Wharf district and sublease the excess space, according to two people familiar with the plan. The lender will shift at least half of the back-office staff from the Appold Street property to the Docklands office by the end of this ...
Read More »Commerzbank suffers Q3 loss on overhaul costs
Bloomberg Commerzbank AG said it expects to post a full-year profit after costs tied to Chief Executive Officer Martin Zielke’s overhaul pushed Germany’s second-largest lender into a third-quarter loss. The net loss of 288 million euros ($319 million) compares with a profit of 235 million euros a year earlier, the Frankfurt-based company said in a statement on Friday. Analysts ...
Read More »Egypt PM defends tough economic measures
Bloomberg Egypt’s prime minister tried to reassure an anxious public as Egyptians expressed alarm and anger over prices that swiftly soared a day after the nation’s currency was floated, sending its value tumbling as fuel subsidies were cut. In the capital’s working class district of Imbaba, residents spoke of a sudden spike in transportation and food prices, mainly because ...
Read More »Kuwait launches foreign bond sale to finance deficit
AFP Kuwait will issue billions of dollars worth of bonds in international markets to finance a budget deficit resulting from low oil prices, a report said Saturday. Finance Minister Anas al-Saleh said Kuwait will issue US dollar-denominated sovereign bonds of up to $9.6 billion during the 2016/2017 fiscal year which ends March 31, Al-Qabas newspaper reported. This comes on ...
Read More »Libya accuses Goldman Sachs of bribery in bid to appeal lawsuit
Bloomberg The Libyan Investment Authority tried to resurrect its lawsuit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. by adding new accusations of bribery, less than a month after a crushing courtroom defeat in London. But Judge Vivien Rose said at a hearing that the appeal had no chance of success and ordered the sovereign wealth fund to pay Goldman at least ...
Read More »Oil driller vows to change ways after restructuring
Bloomberg After emerging this week from one of the largest-ever energy-industry debt restructurings, Pacific Exploration & Production Corp. has a new ticker on the Toronto stock exchange and a new mantra: discipline. The oil and gas producer will target profit rather than growing production at all costs, and limit its geographic focus to Colombia and Peru after divesting assets ...
Read More »Oil caps biggest weekly decline since Jan on OPEC doubts
Bloomberg Oil capped the biggest weekly loss in almost 10 months as hopes faded that OPEC will be able to implement a promised deal to cut production and ease global oversupplies. Futures dropped 1.3 percent in New York, bringing the six-session decline to 11 percent. Prices closed Thursday at the lowest level since OPEC reached a preliminary accord in ...
Read More »India backs multi-tier national tax regime
Bloomberg India has backed a multi-tier national tax regime that even in its not-so-perfect form will be a game-changer for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is trying to revive manufacturing and boost foreign investment in the world’s fastest growing major economy. Moving away from the ‘one market, one rate’ tax model, the Goods and Services Tax Council decided on ...
Read More »Coal surge leaves China grappling with runaway market it started
Bloomberg China’s drive to reduce overcapacity and streamline its coal industry has sent prices of the bulk commodity soaring. Efforts initially aimed at reversing a four-year collapse and help miners repay debts have pushed coal higher and faster than anyone anticipated. The fuel burned in power stations has doubled, while the coal used in steel making has more than ...
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