BNP Paribas tops market and outperforms rivals August 7, 2008 BNP Paribas the French banking giant, reported a 34 per cent fall in second-quarter net profits as it beat expectations to outperform some of its closest rivals, sending shares up by as much as 6.3 per cent. France’s largest listed bank reported a net profit of €1.51bn (£1.18bn) for the quarter, down from €2.28bn, as [...]
Wall Street giants face huge fines August 7, 2008 Citigroup pays out $100m to settle US charges that it marketed debt fraudulently Top City firms could face huge fines after Citigroup yesterday agreed to pay the New York authorities $100m to settle charges it marketed US auction debt fraudulently. The banking giant also agreed to buy back $7.5bn (£3.75bn) of illiquid securities by November [...]
Taxpayers to fund further Rock bail out August 6, 2008 The taxpayers is to provide Northern Rock with £3bn in financial support after falling house prices and problem loans pushed the struggling state owned lender into a £585.4m loss for the six months to June. Northern Rock executive chairman Ron Sandler yesterday announced that the bank would enter into a debt for equity swap with [...]
Soc Gen shares rise despite profit drop August 6, 2008 French bank Société Générale yesterday reported a 63 per cent fall in second-quarter profits, but its shares rallied, as figures were better than analysts had expected. The Paris-based bank, which is still coming to terms with the rogue trading scandal that caused a €4.9bn loss, saw net profits fall to €664m (£525m) from €1.74bn last [...]
Asia helps StandChart defy crunch August 6, 2008 Standard Chartered’s large presence in Asia helped it buck the banking trend yesterday, as it posted a 31 per cent rise in first-half profit. First-half pre-tax profit outstripped analysts’ expectations to reach a record figure of £1.32bn, as growth in the Asian economies continued apace despite a slowdown in the West. Chief executive Peter Sands [...]
Fortis profits halve on new writedowns August 5, 2008 Fortis was the latest bank to be hit by the credit crunch, as it announced interim profits down by 41 per cent, after a second wave of writedowns related to choppy credit markets. The troubled Belgian-Dutch group’s net profit slumped to €1.6bn (£1.3bn) from €2.8bn in the first six months as the bank took €591m [...]
HSBC profits hit as bad debt surges August 5, 2008 Europe’s largest bank announces a 28 per cent drop in earnings as crunch bites HSBC chairman Stephen Green insisted yesterday that his bank’s performance was “resilient”, despite a 28 per cent fall in profits and a surge in bad debt charges to more than $10bn (£5bn). Interim pre-tax profits at Europe’s largest bank fell from [...]
UBS wins first step to stem staff exits August 5, 2008 UBS has won the first round of its legal battle to ban start-up wealth manager Vestra from poaching its staff and clients. High Court judge Mr Justice Openshaw granted an injunction preventing Vestra from making overtures to any UBS UK wealth management or stockbroking clients, or headhunting any more UBS employees. Seventy-five UBS employees have [...]
HBOS looks to raise private funds for help August 4, 2008 HBOS has asked investment bank UBS to raise a private investors’ fund to help it offload £400m of investments, as it looks to prop up its balance sheet and cut back on investments in troubled times for the banking sector, it emerged yesterday. The UK’s largest mortgage lender has called on UBS to create a [...]
Banking tragedy fails to lift market players August 4, 2008 You could say the UK banks reporting season is turning into a comedy of errors but perhaps a Shakespearean tragedy would be more apt. It was an awful first act for the sector last week but the drama will reach its crescendo this week as we await downbeat numbers from HSBC, Barclays and RBS. The [...]