Lloyds of London profit halves as claims rise September 28, 2010 The Lloyd’s of London insurance market said its profit for the first six months of 2010 more than halved, hit by higher catastrophe claims and weaker investment returns. Lloyd’s had a first half pretax profit of £628m, down from £1.32bn in the same period last year, it said on Tuesday. Lloyd’s, which traces its origins [...]
AG Barr sees Irn-Bru fuel earnings surge September 28, 2010 Irn-Bru maker AG Barr has seen its profit and revenues fizz in the first half and is planning to sell more drinks south of the border through advertising campaigns. The Scottish drinks firm saw pre-tax profit rise 18.8 per cent to £16m from £13.5m the year before. Total turnover in the six months to 31 [...]
IMF: We back Osborne’s cuts September 27, 2010 THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave its full backing to the coalition government’s deficit reduction plans yesterday, announcing that the UK economy is on the mend after the longest and deepest recession of the post-war era. In its annual health check of the UK economy the IMF said the recovery was underway, unemployment had stabilised [...]
RBS AXES 500 MORE STAFF September 27, 2010 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) will shed up to 500 jobs from its investment banking arm, it announced to staff yesterday. City A.M. understands the redundancies – most of which will affect London-based employees – will be in the bank’s backroom departments with its IT and marketing departments likely to be most affected . Client-facing [...]
Moody’s adds to euro woes September 27, 2010 CREDIT ratings agency Moody’s slashed its ratings on Anglo Irish Bank’s lower-grade debt yesterday, unnerving investors as Dublin tots up the final cost of rescuing a lender whose soured loans have crippled the country’s economy. Yields on 10-year government bonds increased to 430 points above the equivalent German securities as investors fretted over a writedown [...]
IMF is right – but savings crisis looms September 27, 2010 GEORGE OSBORNE was a happy man yesterday, courtesy of the usually dour International Monetary Fund (IMF), which released an unusually effusive and gushing endorsement of the coalition’s macroeconomic policies. The IMF is upbeat for 2011, predicting growth of two per cent. It makes it clear that slashing the deficit and controlling public spending is the [...]
Rolls-Royce sued over patent September 27, 2010 In a continuing battle over engine part designs, jet engine-maker Pratt & Whitney yesterday sued Rolls Royce, accusing the British company of misleading the US Patent and Trademark Office to obtain a patent. Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies, said in its lawsuit that Rolls-Royce’s patent is invalid and unenforceable. The East Hartford-based [...]
Crossrail plans efficiencies September 27, 2010 Crossrail set out a series of cost savings to its £16bn budget yesterday but said there would be no cuts in its planned stations or branches. Instead efficiencies would be found by making use of existing train designs, rather than building new carriages from scratch as originally planned. The latest cuts are part of Crossrail’s [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 27, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BRAZIL IN GLOBAL CURRENCY WAR’ ALERT An “interntaional currency war” has broken out according to Guido Mantega, Brazil’s finance minister, as governments around the world comcompete to power their exhange rates to boost competiveness. Mantega’s comments in Sao Paulo follow a series of interventions by central banks in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan [...]
JPM sets up alternatives unit in the US September 27, 2010 JPMORGAN Chase is starting a new alternatives unit in its asset management business, formed from traders who are no longer allowed to trade for the bank’s own account under new US rules, according to a company memo. The fate of the JPMorgan traders has been up in the air as banks scramble to come to [...]