Petra’s revenue up 55 per cent on sale of rare diamond October 27, 2014 Petra Diamonds’s first quarter revenue jumped 55 per cent, boosted by the sale of a 122 carat blue diamond. Revenue jumped to $100.8m (£62.1m) in the first quarter, up from $65.1m for quarter one last year. Petra sold an 85 per cent interest in the rare diamond for $23.5m back in September. The revenue gain was [...]
Which banks failed the European stress tests? Italy came out worst, followed by Greece and Cyprus October 27, 2014 25 banks failed the EU-wide stress tests carried out by the European Central Bank (ECB), according to results released this morning. The aim of the tests was to assess the resilience of EU banks to adverse economic developments and determine whether they could withstand another financial crisis. Based on banks' financial health at [...]
Banks warned: UK stress tests will be tougher October 27, 2014 British banks received the thumbs up from European authorities yesterday as the big four all passed continent-wide stress tests – but the Bank of England warned UK institutions they are not yet in the clear. The European Banking Authority (EBA) tested 123 banks’ capital buffers against a fictional crash, with a jump in unemployment, a [...]
Exclusive: eDreams considers legal action after Iberia’s flip-flop October 27, 2014 Europe’s largest flight comparison firm, eDreams Odigeo, is mulling legal action after its shares tanked nearly 60 per cent on Friday when Iberia and British Airways (BA) pulled tickets from three of its websites. Iberia and BA, both part of the International Airlines Group, added their fares back to two of the three websites on [...]
Eurozone lenders need to find billions for safeguards October 27, 2014 Ancient Italian bank Monte dei Paschi failed the European stress tests by far and away the biggest margin, the authorities said yesterday, highlighting the dire state of the country’s financial sector. Under the European Banking Authority’s (EBA) stress tests, its capital buffer fell to minus 0.1 per cent. Even after plugging a portion of the [...]
Obama under pressure to put a stop to forced Ebola quarantine October 27, 2014 President Obama is under pressure to end the practice of forced quarantines, imposed by some US states on healthcare workers returning from countries affected by Ebola. The row was sparked after volunteer nurse Kaci Hickox became the first person to be held in New Jersey under the measures, despite not showing any symptoms of the [...]
Ukrainians back Poroshenko as Kiev looks west October 27, 2014 Voters in Ukraine have backed pro-European President Petro Poroshenko following a fraught election campaign, as the nation battles to recover from intense fighting with separatists in the east of the country. Poroshenko’s party looks to have gained around 25 per cent of the vote, according to exit polls last night, with other parties, including government [...]
Rousseff wins Brazilian vote October 27, 2014 President Dilma Rousseff has narrowly won a second term in office in Brazil, following a close-fought election campaign. Rousseff won 51.6 per cent of the vote against centrist opposition leader Aecio Neves, who won 48.4 per cent. The president fought a campaign focused on her record of boosting employment and reducing poverty in the country, [...]
UK troops leave Afghanistan October 27, 2014 UK troops have lowered the British flag at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, marking the end of the nation’s combat role in the country. The camp, in Helmand Province, was officially handed over to Afghan troops yesterday in a final ceremony. A few hundred UK troops remain on the ground waiting to fly back to the UK, [...]
Vodafone probe into allegation of fraud at Ono October 27, 2014 Vodafone has launched a probe to investigate an allegation of fraud at Ono, the Spanish cable company which the mobile phone giant took over in July this year. The allegation relates to a possible tax fraud in part of Ono’s business, which could have over-inflated the company’s profits ahead of the takeover deal, which was [...]