Stockholm- Swedish banking group Swedbank Thursday posted a 2009 first quarter operating loss of 3.4 billion kroner (400 million dollars) and reported the write-down of its subsidiary in Ukraine.

Last year, the group that has 9 million private customers and 600,000 corporate customers at branches in Sweden, the Baltic countries and Ukraine, posted a first quarter operating profit of 3.7 billion kroner.

Total income in the 2009 first quarter increased 12 per cent to 9.4 billion kronor. Swedbank shares were down some 13 per cent in opening trading on the Stockholm bourse Thursday.

Stockholm - A Swedish nuclear watchdog Wednesday lifted its special supervision of a Swedish nuclear power plant that had been under observation since 2006.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority introduced stricter supervision of the Forsmark nuclear facility, north of Stockholm, after the shutdown of one of the three reactors in July 2006.

Subsequent probes brought into question safety procedures at Forsmark, and reports indicated problems with reporting and follow-up of maintenance.

Stockholm - Heavy-vehicle maker Volvo on Wednesday said it planned to give notice to some 1,500 employees in Sweden citing "the sharp decline on world markets."

Most of the cuts, about 1,300 employees, affect Volvo Trucks and Volvo's Powertrain division, which makes engines and gearboxes used in its heavy vehicles as well as construction machinery.

They are part of the Volvo Group that does not include Volvo Cars, the Swedish car maker owned by US giant Ford.

Stockholm - Swedish home appliance maker Electrolux recorded an increased pre-tax loss in the first-quarter of 2009, the group reported Wednesday, noting that most of its main markets declined in the first three months.

The group posted a pre-tax loss of 493 million kronor (57 million dollars), compared to a pre-tax loss of 149 million kronor in the corresponding business period 2008.

Net sales were up 6.7 per cent to 25.8 billion kronor.

Arjeplog, Sweden - Car makers are very creative about hiding their prototypes from amateur photographers and paparazzi just waiting to snap a spy shot of the new model.

"The natural enemy of the prototype is the horsepower paparazzi," says Peter Gyllenberg, who runs a test centre in Arjeplog, Sweden, where many car makers hold winter tests.

Stockholm - Sweden's central bank said Tuesday it was to cut its interest rate by half a percentage point to 0.50 per cent, saying the move was "necessary to dampen the fall in production and employment."

One of the six governors on the Riksbank board, Lars O Svensson, wanted a greater cut to 0.25 per cent, and "entered a reservation," the central bank said in a statement.

The Riksbank governors said Sweden has been hit "hard" by the global financial dowturn.