BRUSSELS, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Belgian insurer Ageas (AGES.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
reported a surge of cash coming into its business in the first
half, particularly in Asia, and strong earnings from its life
insurance business.

The company, formerly known as Fortis, said on Wednesday
that inflows grew by 22 percent during the first six months of
2010 and by 59 percent in Asia.

BRUSSELS, July 15 (Reuters) – Belgian industrial printer and
film maker Agfa Gevaert (AGFB.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday it had bought
U.S.-based Harold M. Pitman Co for about $80 million, giving it
distribution capability in the country.

Agfa forecast its U.S. sales would more than double to over
$500 million from about $200 million after the acquisition of
Pitman, a distributor of prepress, industrial inkjet, pressroom
and packaging printing products and systems.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgian investigators looking into sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests raided two main Church offices and the home of a former archbishop on Thursday, taking away computers and files in their search for evidence.

Police sealed off the offices of the Brussels archdiocese in Mechelen during a meeting of the country’s bishops there and barred them from leaving the premises or contacting outsiders while they searched, the Church news service Kerknet reported.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – As Belgium’s best-known reporter prepares himself for the silver screen, uncomfortable questions remain as to whether it is just his plus fours and quiff that need to be given a makeover.

Film director Steven Spielberg’s “The Secret of the Unicorn” is a tale of sunken ships and treasure which highlights Tintin as a swashbuckling hero ready to take on any villain.

BRUSSELS, May 27 (Reuters) – Carrefour <CARR.PA> has reached
a deal with unions over restructuring in Belgium, potentially
ending several months of strikes and wildcat stoppages, the
company and union leaders said on Thursday.

Five hypermarkets have been saved from closure, meaning nine
hypermarkets will still be closed and seven supermarkets will
also be shut, said a spokesman for the BBTK union, which
represents around 65 percent of the company’s workers in
Belgium.

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Small engineering and luxury products companies in Europe could outperform larger competitors in the current market squeeze as the falling euro accentuates the benefits of emerging market demand.

Small-cap stocks tend to underperform larger peers during downturns and outperform during economic recoveries and since the Greek sovereign debt crisis has hit markets, small companies in Europe have lost almost twice as much as their bigger rivals.

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM, May 11 (Reuters) – Belgian municipal
holding company Publigaz is in talks to sell up to 40 percent of
its stake in Fluxys <DIST.BR>, the operator of Belgium’s network
of natural gas pipelines, its chairman said on Tuesday.

“We are thinking of selling 30 or 40 percent of the stake we
have now, which is almost 90 percent at the moment, but we have
enough with 60 percent, so we are in the process of looking at
new partners either industrial or financial,” Daniel Termont,
chairman of Publigaz, told Reuters.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The collapse of Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme’s five-month-old government risks paralyzing politics at a time when vital economic decisions need to be made and an agenda set for Europe.

These are the problems Belgium faces if the crisis drags on for weeks or months.

AMEL, Belgium (Reuters) – Belgian bio-coal maker 4Energy Invest expects earnings to rise 10 percent in the second half of 2010, and sees sales up tenfold within four years on a surge in demand for the CO2-neutral fuel.

The firm, which makes electricity and bio-coal by burning waste wood, is planning a major international expansion and has opened an office in Brazil, is building a site in Ham, in Belgium, and is looking at sites in Germany and the UK.