Rising health spending is adding more pressure to government budgets according to a recent health data report by the OECD. In all OECD countries health spending is rising faster than economic growth. The average ratio of health spending to GDP rose from 7.8% in 2000 to 9.0% in 2008. Growing health care costs with falling …
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The Financial Express newspaper of India published India’s Best Banks in March this year. The banks were ranked based on the following factors: Strength & Soundness Growth Profitability Efficiency Credit Quality India’s Best Banks Click to Enlarge HDFC Bank (HDB) took the top rank in the New Private Sector Bank category. ICICI Bank (IBN) was …
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The investment firm KBW has published its “Takeover List” in the U.S. banking sector after a gap of about two and half years. An article in The Wall Street Journal noted some of the reasons for the expected M&A activity include: A lack of earnings power Tough regulation on capital and use of debt More …
Unlike Integrated Oil Companies (IOCs) such as BP(BP), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), TOTAL (TOT) and others, National Oil Companies (NOCs) are majority-owned by the state. For example, the Norwegian government is the largest shareholder in Statoil (STO), the country’s largest oil company. The state owns 67% of all outstanding shares of Statoil. Some consider …
Each year The Banker magazine publishes a list of the best global banks based on various factors such as profits, losses, assets, etc. The graphic below lists the best and worst banks based on 2009 data: via The Economist It is interesting to note that the two most profitable banks in the world are Chinese …
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