BNP Paribas sees lower bad debts as quarterly profit rises February 17, 2010 France’s biggest listed bank BNP Paribas forecast a drop in bad debt charges and was upbeat on its prospects for 2010 despite the economic uncertainty clouding the global finance sector. “I remain quite confident about this year,” said chief executive Baudouin Prot as BNP posted a forecast-beating fourth quarter net profit of €1.36bn (£1.18bn). Profits [...]
Lloyds seeks buyers for its €1bn Irish Halifax deposits February 17, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group has put its Halifax retail banking assets in the Republic of Ireland up for sale as it gives up its attempt to break into the tough local market. Earlier this week the bank said it would close 44 branches and lay off 750 staff by July. Its Irish intermediary business, which sells [...]
Unemployment dips but claimants surge February 17, 2010 UNEMPLOYMENT has fallen slightly but the number of benefits claimants has gone up, official figures have shown. Total unemployment stood at 2.46m for the three months to December, down 3,000 on the figure for the previous quarter. The rate of unemployment was unchanged at 7.8 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said yesterday. [...]
MPC in unanimous decision to pause QE programmes February 17, 2010 THE Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was united in its decision to pause its quantitative easing programme earlier this month, but minutes of the meeting indicated that for some members, the decision was a difficult one. The minutes showed that all nine members voted in favour of holding rates at 0.5 per cent and [...]
CITY VIEWS: WILL UNEMPLOYMENT CONTINUE RISING? February 17, 2010 GRAHAM WOOD | LINEDATA SERVICES “Unemployment will go up because the effects of the recession on the manufacturing sector still haven’t come through. This year’s graduates will be competing with graduates from last year and there are not enough jobs to soak this up. It’s going to be hard.” BRET JACKSON | CORNHILL CAPITAL “It [...]
Insurance on the rebound, L&G predicts February 17, 2010 INSURER Legal & General yesterday brought good cheer to the market despite posting a 6.6 per cent fall in worldwide sales, as it announced a strapping performance from its fund management arm and predicted a surge in new business in 2010. L&G said worldwide new business sales dropped to £1.39bn, from £1.49bn in 2008, though [...]
Sell into strength as concerns remain February 17, 2010 UNCERTAINTY has haunted Legal & General (L&G) for the past year, and yesterday’s interim update did little to change this. Shares in the UK’s fifth-biggest life assurer, long touted as a takeover target, closed at 76.35p, over three times its all-time low of 21p last year when it cut its dividend for the first time [...]
London base for new BoA global head February 17, 2010 BANK of America Merrill Lynch yesterday named Paul Donofrio, one of its three co-heads of investment banking, as its new head of global corporate banking business. Donofrio will replace Cathy Bessant, who has been named global technology and operations executive. He will continue to report to Tom Montag, global banking and markets president. London-based Donofrio [...]
Man Group rises on bid talk February 17, 2010 SHARES in Man Group jumped 5.2 per cent yesterday as rumours of a takeover bid from American money manager BlackRock swirled through the City. The British hedge fund’s paper gained 11.8p to close at 239.6p, although analysts were sceptical about the prospects of an offer. BlackRock has pulled off large deals in the past, merging [...]
IMF: Dubai debt revamp poses challenge for UAE February 17, 2010 The global financial crisis and Dubai’s debt restructuring raise important challenges for the United Arab Emirates economy, but its prospects remain favourable, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday. The crisis sent the world’s third largest oil exporter into a downturn last year, its first since 1993, while Dubai debt woes are seen weighing on [...]