NY Fed sells AIG assets January 19, 2012 CREDIT SUISSE has won an auction to buy a $7bn mortgage securities portfolio once owned by AIG. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which did not reveal the sale price, was selling the assets it acquired through the bailout of American International Group in 2008. Goldman, Barclays Capital and Bank of America Merrill Lynch [...]
Thames Water to get Chinese investment January 19, 2012 CHANCELLOR George Osborne’s visit to China appears to have paid dividends for UK companies, as sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation looks to buy a stake in Thames Water. CIC is understood to be poised to snap up a 10 per cent stake in Kemble Water, the holding company that owns the utility. Macquarie Bank [...]
Pinsent and McGrigors set for a merger January 19, 2012 LAW firms Pinsent Masons and McGrigors yesterday confirmed they are in merger talks over a deal that could create one of the largest UK law firms by revenue. A tie-up between the groups, both known for their strong project finance practices, would result in a business with a turnover of more than £300m, earning it [...]
Haldane: Asset valuation may have worsened crisis January 19, 2012 ACCOUNTING and reporting rules for banks’ assets and liabilities have in part contributed to financial crises and can lead to confusion, Andrew Haldane, the Bank of England’s executive director for financial stability, said yesterday. Fair value accounting can lead banks to overestimate profits in boom years, he said, because their assets are inflated in a [...]
Profits plunge at BlackRock after fees fall January 19, 2012 PROFITS at BlackRock plunged 16 per cent in the fourth quarter as fees from investment advisory work fell away amid the global turmoil. The world’s largest money manager said net income dropped to $555m (£358.7m), or $3.05 per share, from $657m, or $3.35 per share, a year earlier. The New York group has managed the [...]
Google drops as earnings disappoint January 19, 2012 GOOGLE shares dropped nine per cent in after-hours trading last night on the back of worse than expected results from the technology giant. Shares sunk to around $583 despite the firm announcing an increase in net revenue to $8.13bn (£5.25bn) for the fourth quarter, compared to $6.37bn a year earlier. Analysts had wanted more from [...]
Intel posts revenue surge but faces weak mobile reception January 19, 2012 INTEL beat expectations to hit record full year revenues of $54bn (£34.9bn), it said yesterday, despite a challenging PC market and late entry in the mobile sector. The chip manufacturer also announced that it would increase capital expenditure to $12.5bn in 2012, up from $10.7bn in 2011, in an attempt to catch up with rivals [...]
IBM and American Express up as Microsoft’s profits struggle January 19, 2012 IBM beat fourth quarter profit estimates last night and said it aims to grow earnings by at least 10 per cent in 2012. The company brought in revenues of $29.5bn (£19bn) in the fourth quarter, up from $29bn in the same period last year. Shares were up 2.6 per cent in extended trading. And American [...]
Better credit brings BAML out of the red January 19, 2012 BANK OF AMERICA Merrill Lynch came out of the red last year, posting profits of $1.4bn compared to a loss of $2.2bn in 2010. The bank was boosted by a large improvement in the credit quality of loans in its cards business and rising investment bank profits. But in a sign that the US banking [...]
Morgan Stanley slumps to fourth quarter loss in 2011 January 19, 2012 MORGAN Stanley sank into the red at the end of last year, losing 15 cents per share in the fourth quarter and delivering dismal shareholder returns of just 3.9 per cent for the whole of 2011. The bank was hammered by a series of hefty one-off charges and a collapse in underwriting revenues at the [...]