Santam May Consider Acquisitions Within South Africa

Santam Ltd., South Africas largest
property and casualty insurer, may consider small acquisitions
at home after putting international expansion on hold following
a failed foray into Europe.
Well look at small, bolt-on acquisitions and joint
ventures, Chief Executive Officer Ian Kirk said in an
interview in Johannesburg after […]

Sepracor Posts Loss on License Payment, Cuts Forecast

Sepracor Inc., the maker of Lunesta
sleeping pills, reported a loss on a drug licensing payment and
lower reimbursement rates for its asthma drug Xopenex. The
company will restate earnings since 2005, and cut its forecast.
The fourth-quarter net loss of $5 million, or 5 cents […]

Seven Bank Rises on First Day of Trading in Tokyo

Seven Bank Ltd. rose 24 percent on
its first day of trading after Japans largest initial public
offering since Sony Corp.s financial unit sold $3 billion of
shares in October.
Seven Bank, the financial unit of Japans biggest retailer
Seven I Holdings Co., closed at 174,000 […]

Industries Qatar Quarterly Profit Jumps 48% on Prices

Industries Qatar, the largest
publicly traded company in the country, posted a 48 percent
rise in fourth-quarter profit, helped by higher petrochemical
prices and increased production.
Net income advanced to 1.58 billion riyals ($434 million)
from 1.07 billion a year earlier, Bloomberg calculated by
subtracting nine-month data from […]

Aviva Beats Prudential as U.K. Market Turns Tables on Revenue

Aviva Plc, the loser in a bad year for
U.K. insurance stocks, is the forecasters favorite to make money
this year.
Aviva, Britains largest insurer by sales, fell 18 percent in
2007 trading, almost twice as much as the FTSE All-Share Life
Insurance Index. The London-based company, […]

Ambac Rescue by Banks May Be Announced Next Week, Person Says

Ambac Financial Group Inc., the bond
insurer in rescue talks with banks, may announce an agreement
early next week that would save its AAA credit rating and avoid
losses on $566 billion of debt, according to a person familiar
with the discussions.
Banks may invest about $3 […]

Rick Renzi, Republican Congressman, Indicted by U.S.

Representative Rick Renzi, a
Republican from Arizona who isnt seeking re-election, has been
indicted by a federal grand jury in an alleged scheme to profit
from a land deal.
Renzi, 49, who was first elected to the House in 2002, was
charged along with James Sandlin, 56, […]

Ambac Soars on Reports Bailout May Happen Next Week

Ambac Financial Group Inc., the bond
insurer in rescue talks with banks, soared in New York Stock
Exchange trading on optimism the company may soon reach an
agreement that would save its AAA credit rating and avoid losses
on $556 billion of securities it guarantees.
The New […]

Asian Stocks Fall on Credit-Market Losses, Oil-Price Concerns

Asian stocks fell for the seventh
time in eight weeks this year on concern widening credit-market
losses and record crude oil prices will erode profits.
Australia New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. dropped for the
week after its chief executive said a bloodbath in debt
markets will […]

Ex-Marsh & McLennan Executives Guilty of Monopoly

Two former Marsh McLennan Cos.
executives were found guilty of restraint of trade and acquitted
of 20 other charges after the first bid-rigging trial in a New
York probe of anticompetitive insurance sales practices.
William Gilman and Edward McNenney were the first of seven
former executives […]