Ladbrokes to focus on digital strategy in H2 August 2, 2012 Britain’s second-biggest bookmaker Ladbrokes said on Thursday it would focus on its ailing digital business in the second half after profit from that division fell in the first six months of the year. Overall group operating profit rose 11 per cent to £106.9m in the first half, the bookmaker said. Growth in its British high [...]
BNP Paribas second-quarter net falls, hits capital goal early August 2, 2012 BNP Paribas, one of the Eurozone’s biggest banks, beat forecasts on Thursday with a smaller-than-expected earnings drop in the second quarter and stole a march on arch-rival Societe Generale by hitting capital targets early. Both BNP and SocGen have sold assets, slashed headcount and cut dividends to bolster their balance sheets and soothe investors after [...]
Rain boosts foreign bookings at Thomas Cook August 2, 2012 A sodden summer boosted foreign holiday bookings at tour operator Thomas Cook in the three months ended June, although acquisition-related costs and inflation drove it to an operating loss during the period. The 171-year-old travel group said on Thursday it made an underlying operating loss of £26.5m in its fiscal third quarter compared with a [...]
ING considers sale of UK, Canadian online banks August 2, 2012 Dutch bank and insurer ING, which has been forced to sell assets in return for receiving state aid during the financial crisis, said it is considering the sale of its online banking businesses in the UK and Canada. It did not give a value for either of the two online banking units but said they [...]
US raises pressure for Eurozone crisis action August 2, 2012 The US raised the pressure on Eurozone leaders to take decisive action on solving the region’s debt crisis, notably by lowering troubled members’ borrowing costs, on the eve of a crucial European Central Bank (ECB) meeting. President Barack Obama said he welcomed recent declarations by European leaders and the ECB on the need to do [...]
UK economy hit by fresh blows August 1, 2012 THE UK’S recession looks set to deepen even further after manufacturing output fell in July at its fastest rate for more than three years, according to an influential survey published yesterday. It came as fears mounted that the Olympics are failing to deliver the boost that some economists had hoped for – and in fact are [...]
Technical glitch forces NYSE to cancel trades August 1, 2012 THE New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was forced to cancel trades in several shares yesterday after a technical glitch by market maker Knight Capital triggered dramatic stock price movements. The US exchange identified “irregular trading” in 140 shares in the opening 45 minutes of trade, but ultimately cancelled trades in just six shares. Most of [...]
Fed keeps rates on hold but hints it will act soon August 1, 2012 THE FEDERAL Reserve last night decided to hold fire on fresh action to stimulate growth, despite admitting the economy was slowing. In a noticeably more pessimistic portrait of the US economy than last month, the central bank said that economic activity “decelerated” in July and reiterated its former stance that it would hold interest rates [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 1, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Nationalising RBS on the table Senior government figures are discussing the possibility of fully nationalising Royal Bank of Scotland amid mounting frustration at banks’ failure to lend to British businesses. Cabinet ministers are having conversations about whether to spend around £5bn buying up the 18 per cent of the bank the government does [...]
New lending plan gets off to a shaky start August 1, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT’S latest plan to give banks cheap funds in an effort to boost lending to firms and households received a cautious welcome from banks when it opened yesterday. Majority taxpayer-owned RBS accessed the “Funding for Lending” scheme (FLS) immediately, and cut mortgage and corporate loan interest rates by up to 1.6 percentage points. Lloyds, [...]