SocGen sees profits slide as bad debts mount, but investment banking thrives August 5, 2009 SOCIETE Générale (SocGen) suffered a 52 per cent decline in net profit, the French bank said yesterday, as losses on bad loans mounted and it wrote down its derivatives holdings. France’s second largest bank, posted profits of €309m (£269m) for the quarter, down from €644m in the same period of last year, despite revenue rising [...]
Rising loan losses plunge Allied Irish into the red August 5, 2009 ALLIED Irish Bank swung to a pre-tax loss in the first half of the year, as it made a provision of €2.37bn (£2bn) for potential loan losses. The bank lost €872m in the first half, compared to a €1.28bn profit earned in the first half of 2008. The bad debt charge of €2.37bn represented 3.6 [...]
Standard Life profits plunge August 5, 2009 STANDARD Life yesterday admitted it has joined the ranks of insurers struggling in the recession, stating its pre-tax profits were down 86 per cent in the first half as consumers cut their pension savings. The group said markets remained “challenging”, as it unveiled an underlying pre-tax profit drop from £345m in the first half of 2008 [...]
Old Mutual earnings dive as new business is hard to find August 5, 2009 OLD MUTUAL, the insurer listed jointly in the UK and South Africa, reported a bigger-than-expected drop in statutory profits yesterday, despite making improvements at its troubled US life business. South Africa’s largest insurer said its earnings were boosted by investment returns from its US bond portfolio, offsetting weakness in Europe and South African arm Nedbank. [...]
IS LLOYDS BANKING GROUP NOW OVER THE WORST OF ITS WOES? August 5, 2009 SANDY CHEN PANMURE GORDONAlthough management expects impairment to abate in the second half of 2009, this is not usually what happens in the trough before a recession. We expect that book value of equity per share will continue to be eroded by further losses. We are comfortable with our full-year forecast of -35p earnings per [...]
WHAT LIES BEHIND THE PROFIT FALLS AT STANDARD LIFE? August 5, 2009 BARRIE CORNES PANMURE GORDON“Standard Life has reported a slightly disappointing set of first-half figures. The miss on statutory profitability stems from lower management charges, Canadian property and other assets on its balance sheet. We maintain our “Hold” recommendation.” DUNCAN HALL FINNCAP“The statutory reporting method does tend to depress profits. The general feeling is that Standard [...]
Observer fate will be known by autumn as losses mount August 4, 2009 The fate of The Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, could be revealed within months, as parent company Guardian Media Group (GMG) mulls ways to control its losses. GMG chief executive Carolyn McCall has confirmed in an internal email that the closure of the 218-year old weekly is an option that a panel of senior [...]
BOTTLING IT August 4, 2009 DRINKS giant PepsiCo yesterday said it had secured a $7.8bn deal to take over its its two largest bottlers, Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas. The group said that the takeover will save it £300m by 2012. PepsiCo is battling slumping sales as consumers are increasingly cutting out fizzy drinks. PepsiCo will pay Pepsi Bottling Group [...]
Xstrata gains bid support August 4, 2009 LARGER-than-life Xstrata boss Mick Davies yesterday said he had investor backing from the mining giant’s largest shareholder in its proposed £26bn merger with Anglo American. Glencore International is “very supportive” of the nil-premium merger, Davies said. The chief executive added that the company had no intention of altering the terms of the proposed marriage. Davies [...]
Electricity demand has hit a new low, according to Drax August 4, 2009 POWER station operator Drax said yesterday that the downturn had triggered an “unprecedented” slump in demand for electricity, as the group reported a dramatic slump in its first half earnings. Chief executive Dorothy Thompson said the fall off in power requirements had been much sharper than contraction in the broader economy. “For our sector it’s [...]