Profits at BNP hit by one-off writedown February 17, 2011 BNP PARIBAS fourth-quarter profits missed analysts’ expectations yesterday despite a rise in revenue, after it had to write down the value of its stake in insurance firm Axa. The €534m (£348m) Axa charge was put down to stock market volatility, which saw Axa shares drop well below their book value. BNP holds a 5.2 per [...]
Axa profit down on life sale losses February 17, 2011 FRENCH insurer Axa saw its 2010 profits cut by almost a quarter after losing €1.64bn (£1.38bn) from the sale of part of its UK life business last year, it said yesterday. Profit fell 24 per cent to €2.75bn from €3.6bn after it sold the majority of its life business to closed-end life manager Resolution for [...]
Swiss Re repays Buffett’s $1.1bn February 17, 2011 THE world’s second-largest reinsurer Swiss Re reported a lower-than-expected $863m (£536m) net profit yesterday after announcing it had repaid $1.1bn in loans extended by Warren Buffett in the financial crisis. Analysts had expected $1.2bn profits but the final figure was still 74 per cent higher than in 2009. Chief executive Stefan Lippe said the company [...]
IT’S A NEW CHANNEL, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT February 17, 2011 WITH viewers of Virgin Media unable to watch Sky’s new flagship channel Sky Atlantic because of a failure of the two groups to agree on price, chief executive Neil Berkett and his team were keen to downplay its attractions yesterday. Berkett described the channel as “completely unproven” while a colleague somewhat contemptuously chipped in to [...]
Winters sets up with Rothschild February 17, 2011 FORMER JP Morgan banker Bill Winters is teaming up with Lord Jacob Rothschild. Winters is setting up the venture, to be called Renshaw Bay, with Rothschild’s London-listed RIT Capital and Reinet Investments, chaired by entrepreneur Johann Rupert. The banker, who also sits on the government’s independent commission on banking panel, will initially own 50 per [...]
Naguib Kheraj leaves Lazard February 17, 2011 HIGH-flying banker Naguib Kheraj yesterday walked away from his chief executive role at Lazard after just six weeks in the post. Kheraj, a former JPMorgan Cazenove chief executive and Barclays finance director, resigned as chief executive of Lazard International to focus on philanthropic work. His departure surprised many in the City as much as his [...]
Danish provider of UK public services plots £1.5bn listing February 17, 2011 DANISH outsourcer ISS, one of Britain’s largest providers of public sector services, said yesterday it expected to raise $2.4bn (£1.5bn) with an initial public offering (IPO). The firm, which counts hospital catering staff and cleaners amongst the 41,000 people it employs in Britain, is considering a Copenhagen listing in one of the biggest stock market [...]
Rathbone Brothers’ bumper results hurt by £3.6m FSCS levy February 17, 2011 WEALTH manager Rathbone Brothers netted £1.24bn in inflows last year to take funds under management over £15bn for the first time, it said yesterday. Total funds jumped by almost a fifth to £2.53bn while underlying profit before tax rose 18.8 per cent to £38.5m in 2009. But a £3.6m Financial Services Compensation Scheme levy to [...]
The five tech trends set to change your world in 2011 February 17, 2011 MOBILE World Congress (MWC), the world’s biggest mobile phone show, ended yesterday. Here City A.M., looks at the biggest trends to emerge from the show and looks at how they could affect your life over the next year. THE SHADOW OF NOKIA/MICROSOFT THE bombshell dropped by Nokia the weekend before MWC kicked off, when the [...]
CWW contract wins reassure February 17, 2011 TELECOMS group Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) said contract wins from UK businesses and the government were keeping it on track for the year. The company, which focuses on large enterprise customers, said yesterday it was continuing to make progress in the second half of its financial year. CWW was one of a number of [...]