STOCKHOLM, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Iceland’s central bank cut its
key interest rate by a bigger-than-expected 100 basis points to
7.0 percent on Wednesday, following gains for its crown currency
and a fall in inflation.

But the central bank said it remained unsure when capital
controls sheltering the battered currency could be removed after
a June court ruling that some foreign currency loans were
illegal raised uncertainty about the strength of the financial
system.

STOCKHOLM, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Scandinavian airline SAS
(SAS.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said chief executive Mats Jansson would step down
during the autumn after four years dominated by a struggle to
slash costs and streamline the loss-making business.
SAS said on Tuesday the board of directors of the airline,
half-owned by the governments of Sweden, Norway and Denmark,
would begin searching for a replacement immediately.

“Next year, I turn 60 and that is also when my contract
expires. I believe that I have done my share for SAS. There are
still great challenges to come for SAS, but the platform is in
place,” Jansson said in a statement.

STOCKHOLM, Aug 6 (Reuters) – Security group Securitas
(SECUb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Friday demand for its services had yet to
recover from a slump in the wake of the global financial crisis
as it posted quarterly profit in line with market expectations.

Securitas, which hires out security guards for venues such
as airports and shopping centres, saw its main markets sour in
the wake of the financial crisis and the late-cyclical business
has lagged the upturn visible in other sectors of the economy.

STOCKHOLM, July 29 (Reuters) – Swedish power group
Vattenfall [VATN.UL] said higher demand for power helped lift
second-quarter profit well above a year ago, but the firm’s top
executive insisted it needed to improve its performance.

State-owned Vattenfall, Europe’s fifth-largest electricity
producer, posted operating profit of 8.96 billion Swedish crowns
($1.23 billion), up 52 percent from a year earlier but down
sharply from 10.1 billion crowns in the first quarter.
[ID:nLDE63S0KK]

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Auto maker Zhejiang Geely said on Thursday it was teaming up with Chinese regional asset manager Daqing State Asset Operation Co in its planned $1.8 billion takeover of Ford Motor Co’s (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Volvo Cars unit.

The Daqing investment group would become a minority owner of the company that is set to buy Sweden-based Volvo Car Corp in what would be China’s biggest ever overseas auto purchase, a Geely spokesman said.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Worldwide military spending surged to a record $1.5 trillion last year, defying an economic downturn caused by the global financial crisis, a leading think tank said on Wednesday.

Military spending last year rose 5.9 percent in real terms compared to 2008 with the United States accounting for more than half of that increase, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its annual report on arms spending.

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, May 20 (Reuters) – Volvo Car Corp, on the road to being acquired by China’s Zhejiang Geely, could see sales revive more than the current plan for 390,000 units this year, the Swedish brand’s top executive said on Thursday.

Led by strong demand for its XC60 SUV, Volvo sales in Europe have outpaced the market this year and shot up 36 percent year-on-year in April alone, defying an industry-wide 7 percent slump, while U.S. sales have stabilised.

STOCKHOLM, April 19 (Reuters) – World number two truck maker
Volvo <VOLVb.ST> said deliveries rose 42 percent year-on-year in
April as markets limped out of the worst slump in demand in
decades, led by a doubling of shipments in Asia and Latin
America.

Volvo, which sells trucks under the Renault, Mack, UD Trucks
and Eicher brands as well as its own name, said on Wednesday
shipments rose 14 percent from a year ago in Europe while they
climbed 27 percent in North America.

SODERTALJE, Sweden, May 6 (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG’s
<VOWG_p.DE> top executive laid out the case for closer ties
between truck rivals Scania <SCVb.ST> and MAN <MANG.DE> and his
own company, but stressed the Swedish group would remain listed
and independent.

Talk of closer links between the three vehicle makers has
heated up in recent weeks, prodded by industry kingpin Ferdinand
Piech, chairman of both VW and MAN and who is on a quest to
build the world’s biggest automotive empire.

STOCKHOLM, May 4 (Reuters) – Tool and machinery maker
Sandvik <SAND.ST> swung to a bigger-than-expected first-quarter
pretax profit on Tuesday and said it would lift production as
demand has picked up across its markets.

Demand for the group’s metalworking tools, mining gear and
specialty steels plunged during the global financial crisis, but
in recent months activity has revived, especially in emerging
markets and a resurgent mining sector.