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Jean-Claude Trichet, who has long had designs on becoming president of the European Central Bank, has suffered a blow after he was ordered to stand trial by a French magistrate in connection with a banking scandal at Credit Lynonnais in the early part of the 1990. The French Government regards the presidential post as its own, but may now have to find an alternative candidate or even a suitable foreigner.
The Swiss maker of medical devices, Centerpulse, has sacked its chief executive less than a year after he was appointed. Stephan Rietiker helped revive the company's fortunes following a lawsuit in America, involving product-liability over the supply of faulty artificial joints. His fall from grace is due to his disagreements with senior managers.
The Irish pharmaceutical firm, Elan, has announced that it would raise $1 billion by selling assets, to help the firm's dip in performance. Concerns over a cash crunch and accounting scandals wiped 96% off Elan's share price earlier this year.
The Bundesbank reported that Germany's unemployment rate has climbed to 9.8%, the highest since March 2000. The news dashed hopes of a economic recovery, and industrial output also fell by 1.3% in May, a figure which was worse than expected.
The European Commission has done little to abate the battle between three of the world's biggest cruise lines. The EC's decision to allow a $5.5 billion takeover of the UK's P&O Princess by Carnival, an American cruise line, has been attacked by Royal Caribbean Cruises, also from the US and who have made a smaller offer for the British firm. The three now await American regulators' judgment on the deal.
Dutch insurers Aegon sent out a warning over its profits which sent its shares tumbling by 18%. The firm blamed the falling dollar, bond defaults and a nervous stockmarket, factors which also affected other European insurers. Aegon was also reported to be interested in acquiring 50% of the life-insurance business owned by Japan's Sony, for a fee of about $860 million.
The French Government is planning to relinquish its majority stake in the country's national airline, Air France. In a statement made by the economy and finance ministry, the Government said it would still remain one of the company's main shareholders but would reduce its capital interest. The Government presently holds 54.4% of the airline's stock, which makes it the biggest shareholder.
According to accountancy firm Ernst & Young, the number of UK firms warning that they may miss profit forecasts is at its lowest for two years. Only 67 profit warnings were given during the past three months, a figure which is down from 91 in the period covering January to March. UK profit warnings have now fallen for two consecutive quarters.
The operating losses of Italy's Fiat have reduced but have still turned out to be worse than expected. Fiat Auto, hit by a 19% fall in car sales during 2002, reported an operating loss of 394 million euros between April to June. This gave the Fiat Group a 127 million euros operating loss and a net loss of 34 million.
Europe's largest mobile phone operator, Vodafone, has revealed an increase in subscriber numbers and stated that its German and British customers are spending more money. Vodafone claims to have secured 2.7 million subscriptions leading up to June, making its total base 103.9 million. It also revealed that average revenues per user rose to 439 euros in the UK in the year to June, rising to 302 euros in Germany.
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