A Brussels court said Tuesday it could not judge a complaint by about 2,400 small shareholders seeking to block the break-up of Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance group Fortis. The court said it could not issue a ruling on the actions of the Dutch government and the Netherlands central bank during decisions taken at the height of the economic crisis last year as to the future of Fortis. However, a Belgian legal battle -- mirrored by a similar long-running fight in the Netherlands -- is set... Read Full Story
PARIS (Reuters) - BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, France's biggest bank by market value, posted higher second-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by its purchase of Fortis assets, and expressed some optimism over prospects for financial markets. Net profit rose 6.6 percent from a year earlier to 1.604 billion euros ($2.29 billion), while gross operating profit rose 44.7 percent to 4.06 billion euros, beating the average forecast of 3.67 billion euros in a Reuters poll of 12 analysts. BNP Paribas said... Read Full Story
French bank BNP Paribas announced a 6.6-percent rise in second-quarter net profit to 1.604 billion euros (2.3 billion dollars) on Tuesday, with performance boosted by market activities and a contribution from the recently acquired Fortis bank. The finance and investment division, after solid results in the first quarter, posted pre-tax earnings of 1.145 billion euros, more than double the figure for the same period last year. It was by far the biggest contribution to the group's results... Read Full Story
France's BNP Paribas cleared a major hurdle on Tuesday in a battle to control Belgium's biggest lender as Fortis shareholders backed its plans to buy the group's former Belgian banking arm. Fortis shareholders approved the deal with 73 percent in favour at a rowdy meeting in the northern city of Ghent that saw dissenters halt the session twice and storm out ahead of the vote in protest. Although the deal still faces another vote on Wednesday in the Dutch city of Utrecht, approval at the... Read Full Story
Chinese insurance group Ping An on Sunday delivered a major blow to BNP Paribas' hopes of taking over stricken Belgian bank Fortis by vowing to vote against the deal at special meetings this week. "We believe that the dismantlement of Fortis, which was not approved by shareholders, violates corporate governance procedures and destroys shareholder value," Ping An said in a statement. "Other credible and viable solutions exist and should be considered, in the interest of all parties. Such... Read Full Story
Belgian financial services company Fortis Holding reported a € 28 billion 2008 loss on Tuesday as it asked shareholders to vote next week to a takeover by French bank BNP Paribas. Fortis loss, equivalent to about 37 billion dollars, compared with a profit of 4 billion € in 2007. The vast majority of red ink resulted in loss of € 27.4 billion on sales of rushed banking activities in the Dutch and Belgian governments, as the company teetered on the verge of failure last fall. The company’s... Read Full Story
Fortis Holding on Wednesday put back to April 28 and 29 a shareholders' vote on a new deal to sell off its Belgian banking operations to France's BNP Paribas. The latest version of the takeover plan was supposed to be put to a vote on April 8 at a general meeting of shareholders in the Dutch city of Utrecht, followed the next day by a similar gathering in Brussels. But in a statement, Fortis Holding said it was postponing the meeting to the end of the month "in agreement with BNP Paribas and... Read Full Story
Belgian-Dutch financial holding group Fortis said it made a net loss last year of 28 billion euros (37 billion dollars), larger than the 22.5 billion euros forecast in mid-March. "The loss in 2008 was due to the 27.4 billion euro negative result of discontinued operations, caused by the loss on sale of the banking activities," it said in a statement. The company had made net profits of four billion euros in 2007. It was broken up last October as a major casualty of the global financial... Read Full Story
Belgian-Dutch financial holding group Fortis said it made a net loss last year of 28 billion euros (37 billion dollars), larger than the 22.5 billion euros forecast in mid-March. "The loss in 2008 was due to the 27.4 billion euro negative result of discontinued operations, caused by the loss on sale of the banking activities," it said in a statement. The bank had made net profits of four billion euros in 2007. It was broken up last October as a major casualty of the global financial crisis... Read Full Story
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