Service companies

Alpha Bank, one of Greece's four largest banks, on Wednesday reported a drop in third-quarter profit compared to the previous quarter on weaker net interest income.

Alpha, 11 percent owned by the country's bank rescue fund HFSF, reported a net profit from continued operations of 43.8 million euros, versus €97.5 million in the second quarter.

Piraeus Bank, one of Greece's four largest banks, on Monday reported a sharp drop in third-quarter profit compared with the previous quarter on the back of higher loan impairment provisions and weaker trading income.

Greece's Alpha Bank is in talks with at least five US investment firms including Cerberus and PIMCO in a fresh attempt to offload a portfolio of bad debt worth more than 10 billion euros ($11.3 billion), two sources told Reuters.

Deloitte Canada laid off about 200 employees last week in its Toronto headquarters, as consultancies grapple with the start of an expected slowdown in client spending. The cuts affected Omnia AI - the artificial intelligence group - as well as audit and consulting, said an employee who was not authorized to speak to the media.

Turkey's e-commerce volume grew 39% in 2019 compared to the previous year, an industrial report revealed on April 29. 

The e-commerce market size hit 83.1 billion liras ($14.6 billion) last year, according to a joint report by Turkey's Informatics Industry Association (TUBISAD), Deloitte Turkey, SimilarWeb and Inveon.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) has kept Greece's credit rating stable at BB-, three rankings below investment grade, but has revised its outlook to stable from positive given the adverse effects the coronavirus pandemic will have on the economy.

S&P said Friday it expects Greece's economy to contract by about 9% in 2020, before rebounding in 2021.

The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers' intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforces during the next quarter. ManpowerGroup's comprehensive forecast of employer hiring plans has been running for more than 55 years and is one of the most trusted surveys of employment activity in the world.

Greek enterprises are now finding it much easier to fill vacant posts, while the number of Greeks seeking work abroad has declined this year, according to Adecco's annual survey of the labor market.

Technology entrepreneurs in China are taking advantage of the digital economy boom in the country, amassing a huge fortune in 2018, according to a report.

21% of the 56 new Chinese billionaires for 2018 came from the technology sector, while only 7% came from the real estate industry, an industry that traditionally creates the richest Chinese entrepreneurs.

Over 20,000 properties of all types are expected to come on the market in the coming years, either through direct sales or auctions, with an obvious impact on prices.