[ECB/INT] For details of previous ECB overnight lending operationsplease go to

[ECB/INT] For details of previous ECB overnight lending operationsplease go to the ECB web site:here(Reporting by Frankfurt newsroom). Film  |  China  |  France  |  JapanAt age 86, the grand master of the comic-book world — and the Marvel universe, in particular — is still going strong, creating a fresh crop of mythic characters with outsize powers and troubled pasts. LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Superheroes may come and go, but Stan Lee is forever. IPF maintained its dividend at 2.3 pence and said it isoperating within its financial covenants. “We think the shares have been oversold and are now wellplaced to outperform,” said analysts at WH Ireland.Shares in IPF, which hit a record low of 58 pence in May,were 22.88 percent higher at 97.5 pence at 0836 GMT.($1=.6103 pounds)(Editing by Mike Nesbit) Russia Mexico. The group also pulled out of its “expensive” Russian pilotearlier this year, which cost the group 16 million pounds. We haven’t got sufficientcustomers,” he added, explaining that the 80 percent of itsloans are to existing customers.

The unit reported a pretax loss of 7 million pounds comparedwith profit of 4.9 million last year, after the group’s revenuepotential reduced by a third, said Harnett “It’s not an impairment problem. IPF, which split from UK parent Provident Financial (PFG.L)in July 2007, said it has made 90 redundancies at its Hungarianunit and is downsizing its customer base by 85,000 customersfrom 320,000 at the start of the year. “It feels weaker on the ground, the next quarter may beweaker The worse may still to be come,” he added. HUNGARY DOWNSIZED Recession has dented the developing economies of Central andEastern Europe, which led to IPF tightening lending criteria andslower growth, with profits further hit by a depreciation oflocal currencies. Harnett said despite having seen the worst in Hungary, whichis expected to return to profit in 2010, the outlook in Romaniais less certain But growth in the long-term remains robust.

“Despite the profits warning and dramatic recessions in mostof IPF’s markets, 2009 profits are expected to be 10 percent upon 2007,” said James Hamiliton at Numis Securities. Overall, IPF said it made a pretax profit on continuingoperations of 9.1 million pounds ($14.9 million), in the sixmonths to end June, close to forecasts, compared with 26.3million last year. “Overall, you can’t be very certain, but we may have seenthe worst of the downturn,” he added.IPF, which offers small loans to consumers in centralEurope, Romania and Mexico, warned on profits in May afterunderperforming in Hungary and experiencing a sharp downturn inloan collections across its regions, causing shares to slump 30percent.[ID:nL8349379] But the group recovered strongly in the second quarter,reporting a first-half pretax profit of 17.6 million pounds($28.84 million) year-on-year, after the economies of Poland,the Czech Republic and Slovakia stabilised, against a pretaxloss of 8.5 million pounds in the first quarter. * Says H1 profit at 9.1 mln stg vs 26.3 mln in 08 Russia  |  Mexico * Sees improved performance in H2 * CEO says seen worst at Hungary unit, warns on Romania * Shares up nearly 23 percent (Adds details, quotes, share price) By Lorraine Turner LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) – Emerging markets lenderInternational Personal Finance (IPF.L) posted a 65 percent fallin profits on Thursday, hit by customers struggling to repayloans, but shares jumped 20 percent on a better outlook.”By the second quarter, things improved significantly,” ChiefExecutive John Harnett told Reuters. [ID:nLN054306] (Reporting by Atul Prakash; editing by Simon Jessop) Stocks European Markets France.