http://www.ft.com/companies/europehttp://www.ft.com/rss/companies/europeFT.com - Companies, Europeen© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times.support@ft.comThu, 15 May 2008 23:28 BSTThu, 15 May 2008 23:29:56 BSTNewspapers60http://news.ft.com/cms/d1f3ce1a-6bbe-11da-bb53-0000779e2340.gifhttp://www.ft.com/companies/europe(PICS-1.1 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" L gen true for "http://www.ft.com/" r (SS~~000 1))http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/720c5a80-22b4-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/720c5a80-22b4-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlThe European Central Bank voiced its "high concern" at growing evidence that banks are exploiting its efforts to unblock the funding markets by using its liquidity scheme to offload more risky assets than it envisagedThu, 15 May 2008 23:28 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e510555e-224b-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e510555e-224b-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlNews of increased capital expenditure and a negative swing in interest charges prompts some analysts to shave 20% from the 2008/9 forecasts for the electronics retailerThu, 15 May 2008 23:18 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7bcfbccc-22ca-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7bcfbccc-22ca-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlRoyal Bank of Scotland's £7bn ($13.6bn) auction for its UK insurance business has received a lukewarm response from potential buyers, with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway pulling out of the bidding and there are doubts over the level of interest from Germany's AllianzThu, 15 May 2008 23:05 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86891696-224c-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86891696-224c-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlGeorges Pauget, chief executive of Crédit Agricole, warned that the worst of the credit crisis was not yet over and unveiled plans to raise €5bn ($7.7bn) in disposalsThu, 15 May 2008 20:02 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e5777aa6-229e-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e5777aa6-229e-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlCappuccino-drinkers and milk lovers will soon be paying for a sharp drop in the share price of Italy's Parmalat dairy group, which reported an 18 per cent drop in first-quarter profitsThu, 15 May 2008 19:30 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c8e35902-22a6-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c8e35902-22a6-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlContinuing losses in the flagship container shipping division of AP Møller-Maersk were more than offset by surging oil and gas production profits, doubling first-quarter profits at the Danish groupThu, 15 May 2008 19:20 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/10075210-22a8-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/10075210-22a8-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlEnergias de Portugal is to press on with an IPO of up to 25 per cent of its renewable energy arm – potentially the biggest European float this year in a sign equity markets are still open to companies with attractive prospectsThu, 15 May 2008 19:11 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5c180208-22a3-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5c180208-22a3-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlThe six-year legal saga that has riven Iceland began its final chapter with prosecutors alleging that Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, executive chairman of Baugur, is guilty of a complex fraud and the Icelandic investment group's lawyer arguing he should be cleared of all chargesThu, 15 May 2008 18:29 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cd5ecb9a-229e-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cd5ecb9a-229e-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlUK fund manager, Hermes was considering legal action against a poison pill-style defence deployed by an independent foundation linked to ASM International, the Dutch semiconductor equipment companyThu, 15 May 2008 18:27 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cbb7d946-2215-11dd-a50a-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cbb7d946-2215-11dd-a50a-000077b07658.htmlBaudouin Prot, chief executive of BNP Paribas, abandoned targets set this year for its investment banking business, saying "visibility" was too low given challenging financial market conditionsThu, 15 May 2008 03:00 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c8944f76-21dc-11dd-a50a-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c8944f76-21dc-11dd-a50a-000077b07658.htmlEurope's largest producer of potash said profits should triple this year as demand for fertiliser rose on the back of food shortagesThu, 15 May 2008 00:03 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/26275822-22af-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/26275822-22af-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlChief says that although he had set out a strategy of focusing on the UK and US, 'then it was clear that Europe was closed and that has changed in the past 12 months'Thu, 15 May 2008 23:02 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/074b3742-22ab-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/074b3742-22ab-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlIt may be true that bank regulators need a new set of teeth. But Germany's political class clearly has a thing about the awesome beast that is capitalismThu, 15 May 2008 19:23 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5078b84c-229a-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5078b84c-229a-11dd-93a9-000077b07658.htmlZurich Financial Services surprised analysts with better-than-expected results for the first quarter thanks to cautious underwriting and conservative investments Thu, 15 May 2008 17:46 BSThttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/14c1ef8e-2214-11dd-a50a-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/14c1ef8e-2214-11dd-a50a-000077b07658.htmlThe service should be allowed to raise capital from the private sector to gain access to the finance and expertise it needs to survive, says the UK postal regulatorThu, 15 May 2008 03:34 BST