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Paris - French bank Societe Generale on Wednesday said its net profit tumbled by over a quarter in the second quarter of this year due to the cost of settling a lawsuit with Libya's sovereign wealth fund.

While it had already set aside some funds, Societe Generale had to book a charge of nearly billion euros against second-quarter profits for the out-of-court settlement with the Libyan Investment Authority in May.

The LIA sued the bank in 2014 for $1.5bn for allegedly channelling bribes to allies of Moammar Gaddafi's son. The case had been about to go to court in Britain.

The charge pushed net profit down to $1.24bn, but that still beat the average forecast of $1.1bn of analysts surveyed by financial data firm Factset.

"In a mixed economic and financial environment, Societe Generale posted sound second-quarter results, confirming the good commercial and operating performances achieved by the businesses at the beginning of the year," chief executive Frederic Oudea said in a statement.

Stripped of exceptional items - including a capital gain of over 725 million in the second quarter last year from the sale of its stake in Visa Europe, the bank's profit rose by 11% to $1.37bn.

Operating expenses rose by 1.2% as Societe Generale stepped up investments into modernising its French retail bank operations and support growth in its international retail banking operations.

While the profitability of operations at home continued to suffer from the effects of the ultra-low interest rates in the eurozone, retail banking and financial services abroad enjoyed growth and net profit jumped 30% to $671m.

Oudea said the bank would present a new strategic development plan in November.

The bank's shares dropped more than three percent in early trading on the Paris stock exchange, while the CAC 40 index slid 0.2%.

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Libya settlement cuts into Societe Generale profit - News24

A group of rappers who say they had to flee Libya for their art were on their way to Italy Wednesday after being rescued by a charity boat.

The self-described musicians were among a group of 17 mostly Libyan men picked up by the Aquarius, a vessel operated by French NGO SOS Mediterranee and international humanitarian organisation Doctors without Borders (MSF), from a fishing boat in distress in waters off the Libyan coast.

Im (a) rapper, I do rap music, so I got to get out of Libya, one of the men, Youssef, told AFP.

I have to get out of Libya for freedom of speech, you know about that. Libya is a dangerous zone right now for arts...

Youssef, from the countrys second city Benghazi, said he had paid a trafficker he met in a coffee shop in the capital Tripoli to get on the boat.

So I was talking and someone after I finished talking got me to the side and said If you are looking for a trip I can get you one, but it will be expensive.

I asked him how much expensive and he said like 1,500 (dollars). I said I can pay 1,000, you know, stuff like this. So he got my number and he said I will see and come back to you. The next day he called me and said: All right someone will come and pick the money up.

MSF volunteer Seraina Eldada said the rescued men had been severely dehydrated and exhausted when the Aquarius reached their stricken boat.

They were very weak, some of them barely conscious, she said. But they are all getting stronger now and starting to recover, drinking water.

Right now we are just trying to figure out what their stories are.

The rescued men were to be taken to an Italian port although first the Aquarius was taking part in another rescue operation, this time for a fishing boat reported to have some 300 people on board.

More than 95,000 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean and taken to Italy since the start of the year, just over a third of them on privately-funded NGO boats.

The organisations say they are saving lives but their operations have been criticised for allegedly encouraging migrants to risk a journey that has claimed at least 2,385 lives so far in 2017.

Read more here:
Musicians flee Libya for 'right to rap' - Hindustan Times

Libyas crude shipments jumped to a new three-year high last month, dealing a fresh blow to OPEC and allied oil-producing nations as they battle to restrict a global supply surplus thats depressing prices for the commodity.

The North African nation shipped about 865,000 barrels a day of crude in July,tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. That was a gain of 11 percent from June, which was already the highest since at least July 2014.

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The pace at which Libya can revive crude sales is critical for the oil market because, along with Nigeria, the nation wasnt bound by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries supply restrictions that helped limit supply this year. Domestic conflicts mean the two nations can pump at will while other producer states are depriving themselves of export revenues. Nigeria is also boosting output as a militant campaign is quelled.

Libyas revival hurts OPECs efforts to re-balance the oil market, said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank AG. It comes at a time when other countries that agreed to curb production are starting to comply less strictly with the accord, he said.

The total output from OPEC members in July rose 210,000 barrels a day from June to reach 32.87 million barrels a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Libya led the gains. An expected crude-price recovery has failed to materialize since January, the start point for when OPEC, along with non-member nations including Russia, agreed to restrict collective output by about 1.8 million barrels a day.

It may be a challenge for Libya to maintain its current rate of exports, according toTorbjorn Kjus, chief oil analyst at DNB Bank ASA.

It would be a surprise if they could keep production stable," he said, adding that there are still too many groups and people battling for a share of the countrys oil sales.

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Libya Crude Floods Market Again as OPEC Fights to Restrict Flows - Bloomberg

BENGHAZI, LIBYA

The head of Libya's committee tasked with writing the constitution called upon the eastern parliament Tuesday to hold a national referendum on a final draft, setting in motion a long-awaited step that it's hoped will end the current political stalemate and terminate power struggles among the country's rival parties.

More than three years overdue, the draft still leaves many of Libya's key questions unanswered. Experts warn that its lack of clarity will pave the way for another phase of instability, which has plagued the country since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The call by Nouh Abdel-Sayyed to "take all necessary measures to enable the Libyan people to practice their constitutional right" came after days of confusion over whether his committee is following proper legal procedures.

On Saturday, disgruntled protesters stormed the committee's session in the eastern town of Bayda, calling for a redo of their vote, which was in favor of putting the final draft up for a nationwide referendum. Opponents included secessionists who wanted greater say over the redistribution of resources in the oil-rich country and those in favor of the country's 1951 constitution, which would mean a return to the monarchy.

The 60-member committee was elected in a direct vote in 2014; it was scheduled to deliver a draft in 120 days. However, unrelenting conflicts forced delays.

Legal expert Sami al-Atrash said articles of the constitution look innocent enough on the surface, but "it's not a homogenous document and this is not an honest attempt to produce an inclusive constitution."

A look at the draft shows efforts to keep most of the articles as vague as possible to avoid conflicts among the country's rival parties. The draft made no mention of the national anthem or the flag, to avoid friction between those who backed the 2011 uprising against Gadhafi and those who continue to support him.

'Legislative trap'

"It was done in a way to just escape from the current situation and crisis," said al-Atrash, who warned this would, "postpone, rather than face, harsh realities."

He added that leaving the articles open to interpretation "could lead to a legislative trap."

The draft failed to live up to the aspirations of many easterners, who long complained of discrimination under Gadhafi. Eastern secessionists call for the return of autonomy to Cyrenaica, saying their lands are the major source of oil. However, for decades, Libya's centralized system has driven oil gains to the capital.

In Article 143, the draft states decentralization is the basis of governance. However, Article 148 defers the issues of local municipalities and their budgeting to future legislation. The draft also removed an earlier mention of the eastern city of Benghazi as the economic capital and seat of the central bank.

As for presidential elections, the draft places several restrictions on candidates; candidates with dual citizenship must revoke their non-Libyan nationality a year before registration for elections begins, and if married it must be to a Libyan national. The article risks isolating some of the most powerful Libyan politicians who under Gadhafi lived in exile and were granted non-Libyan nationalities or married non-Libyans.

The draft also deprived non-Arab minorities like the Amazigh who make up between 5 and 10 percent of Libya's population of having their language recognized alongside Arabic as a state language.

The push for the vote came less than a week after Libya's top rivals the internationally recognized, designated prime minister, Fayez Serraj, and army chief Marshal Khalifa Hifter met in Paris, where they shook hands on a cease-fire and agreed to work toward parliamentary and presidential elections as soon as possible.

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Libya Constitutional Committee Pushes for Vote on Draft - Voice of America

LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC oil output has risen this month by 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a 2017 high, a Reuters survey found, led by a further recovery in supply from Libya, one of the countries exempt from a production-cutting deal.

A dip in supply from Saudi Arabia and lower Angolan exports helped to boost OPEC's adherence to its supply curbs to 84 percent. While this is up from a revised 77 percent in June, compliance in both months has fallen from levels above 90 percent earlier in the year.

The extra oil from Libya means supply by the 13 OPEC members originally part of the deal has risen far above their implied production target. Libya and Nigeria were exempt from the cuts because conflict had curbed their production.

A gain in Libyan and Nigerian output has added to the challenge the OPEC-led effort is facing to get rid of excess supply on world markets. To address this, ministers at a July 24 meeting moved to cap Nigerian output and officials are holding talks next week on improving compliance.

"There is a need to align all countries to achieve full compliance," a source close to OPEC said of the compliance talks, which will be held on Aug. 7-8 in Abu Dhabi.

As part of a deal with Russia and other non-members, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is reducing output by about 1.2 million bpd from Jan. 1, 2017 until March next year.

High compliance with the deal, and much-reduced output in the exempt countries, pushed supply lower earlier in the year. But extra Libya and Nigerian production has prompted output to rise since May, and adherence has slipped in some other countries.

July's biggest rise came from Libya, where output, curbed by years of conflict and unrest, rose to an average of more than 1 million bpd. Production remains short of the 1.6 million bpd Libya pumped before its 2011 civil war.

Iraqi supply was revised up for June and in July output has edged higher, the survey found. Supply also increased slightly in the United Arab Emirates, Gabon and Ecuador - which said it planned to pump more, citing its lack of funds.

Among countries with lower output, the biggest decline was in Angola, which exported 50 cargoes, two less than in June. August volumes are expected to increase.

Nigeria pumped slightly less in July after an increase in June, partly due to a force majeure on Bonny crude exports. Growth could resume next month if exports reach the planned rate of at least 2 million bpd.

Top exporter Saudi Arabia pumped 50,000 bpd less, the survey found, although output in June was revised higher to just above its OPEC target. The reduction achieved by OPEC's biggest producer in July is back above the target cut of 486,000 bpd.

OPEC announced a production target of 32.50 million bpd last year, which was based on low figures for Libya and Nigeria. The target includes Indonesia, which has since left OPEC, and does not include Equatorial Guinea, the latest country to join OPEC.

The Libyan and Nigerian increases mean OPEC output in July averaged 32.85 million bpd, about 1.1 million bpd above its supply target, adjusted to remove Indonesia and not including Equatorial Guinea.

With Equatorial Guinea added, total OPEC production in July has reached 33.0 million bpd.

The Reuters survey is based on shipping data provided by external sources, Thomson Reuters flows data, and information provided by sources at oil companies, OPEC and consulting firms.

Reporting by Alex Lawler, with additional reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Jane Merriman

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OPEC oil output jumps to 2017 high on further Libya recovery - Reuters