May 10 2013 11:20 BST Generali restructuring gains momentumGenerali, Italy's largest insurer by premiums, reported a bigger than expected jump in operating profit in the first quarter as a restructuring under new chief executive Mario Greco gained momentum. The insurer posted total operating profit of €1.3bn, up 8 per cent compared with the same period last year. NetBy Rachel Sanderson in Milan |
May 09 2013 17:16 BST Mediobanca's holdings weigh on its resultsMediobanca, Italy's largest listed investment bank, reported a loss in the third quarter as long-held stakes in insurer Generali and a web of Italian companies weighed on its balance sheet. The Milanese bank, which is a key part of a postwar power system linking Italy's most influential companies, made aBy Rachel Sanderson in Milan |
Apr 25 2013 17:17 BST Inside Business: Italy's clubby system needs fresh bloodUnder the proscenium arch of Parma's Teatro Regio, Matteo Renzi, the reformist mayor of Florence and would-be Italian prime minister, recently made a trip into the heart of Italy's business community. At the invitation of the Barilla family, the 39-year-old Mr Renzi attended a theatrical celebration of the life ofBy Rachel Sanderson in Milan |
Apr 22 2013 20:17 BST Italian stocks lifted by re-election hopesInvestors pushed Italian stocks to new highs for the month on hopes that the re-election of the country's president would pave the way for an end to months of political deadlock. The FTSE MIB rose 1.7 per cent to 16,021.71, with banks helping to lead the rally. Italian insurer GeneraliwasBy Alexandra Stevenson |
Mar 14 2013 18:49 GMT Commerzbank and Volkswagen lag behindA sell-off in Commerzbank and Volkswagen shares held Frankfurt's Xetra Dax back from hitting a record high. The benchmark index gained 1.1 per cent to a fresh post-crisis high of 8,058.37 - but just shy of an all-time record. Investors continued to punish Commerzbank, Germany's second-largest lender, for its decisionBy Alexandra Stevenson |
Mar 14 2013 16:10 GMT Generali: generally betterIf you were Mario Greco, you would probably have done the same thing. The chief executive of Italian insurer Generali used his first annual results since joining last August to unveil a €1.4bn impairment charge, wiping 90 per cent off net profits. Given that most of the charges relate to |
Mar 14 2013 10:37 GMT Generali profits hit by €1.3bn writedownGenerali, Europe's third-largest insurer by premiums, reported a plunge in its annual net profit after €1.3bn of writedowns on equity stakes in the fourth quarter including its holding in Telecom Italia. Net profit at Italy's largest insurer fell to €90m for 2012 from €856m a year before. It made writedownsBy Rachel Sanderson |
Mar 05 2013 20:16 GMT Deutsche Post and Saipem advanceEuropean markets rallied to multiyear highs on Tuesday, with the benchmark pan-European index hovering near its highest level since September 2008. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 1.8 per cent to 1,189.02. Saipem , the Italian oil services group currently under investigation for alleged corruption, gained 8.2 per cent to €21.48By Alexandra Stevenson |
Feb 11 2013 16:51 GMT Norway oil fund invests in $600m in USNorway's $705bn oil wealth fund has made its first property venture beyond Europe, investing $600m in a portfolio of offices in New York, Washington and Boston less than two months after it secured a mandate to expand overseas. Norges Bank Investment Management said on Monday that it had agreed aBy Ed Hammond in London and Richard Milne in Oslo |
Jan 22 2013 20:14 GMT Insurers struggle to reassure investorsA decade after Royal and Sun Alliance earned the nickname Rapidly Shrinking Assurance for its restructuring efforts, a fresh wave of European insurance companies seem deserving of similar sobriquets. Next week Mario Greco, chief executive of Generali, will visit US-based investors to convince them he can deliver the "revolution ofBy Alistair Gray |
