Mortgage approvals hit nine-month low March 29, 2010 MORTGAGE approvals slumped to their lowest level in nine months in February, lending data from the Bank of England showed yesterday, providing further evidence that the recovery in the housing market may be running out of steam. The number of mortgages approved fell for the second consecutive month to 47,094 – the weakest since May [...]
Money supply rises despite end of quantitative easing March 29, 2010 THE Bank of England’s preferred measure of broad money (M4) rose by 0.3 per cent in February despite fears that the end of quantitative easing would spell further weakness. Bank data yesterday showed that M4, excluding money holdings of non-bank financial intermediaries, expanded last month after two successive months of contraction – but the three-month [...]
Government ready to take a bigger stake in Irish Banks March 29, 2010 Shares in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland fell sharply yesterday as the government prepared to take control of a much bigger chunk of the financial sector than initially planned. The Irish government is this week moving the first loans into a €54bn (£48bn) “bad bank” scheme, and today it will announce how much [...]
BAE Systems severs its links with former chairman Evans March 29, 2010 DEFENCE giant BAE Systems and its former chairman Sir Richard Evans have parted company permanently, according to the firm’s annual report. Evans, who retired from the post of chairman in 2004, continued to sit as a member of the Saudi Arabia advisory board until the end of last month. He was paid £246,954 last year. He [...]
Shares in ITV jump after ad rule change March 29, 2010 ITV shares leapt almost five per cent on news the channel could be allowed to restrict the amount of adverts it shows, potentially pushing up prices. The move is part of a shake-up of broadcasting rules being undertaken by regulator Ofcom. It is designed to help broadcasters hit by a fragmentation in the TV ad [...]
Land Securities chair to take on new Barclays role March 29, 2010 LAND Securities chairman Alison Carnwath yesterday added another string to her boardroom bow as she signalled her intention to take up a non-executive directorship at Barclays in August. Carnwath’s new Barclays role will fill the gap left by her chairmanship of futures broker MF Global, a role she will hand over to ex-Goldman Sachs chief [...]
Banks face refinancing challenges March 29, 2010 BANKS in the UK face a major challenge in refinancing over £300bn of government funding in the next two to three years, the Fitch credit ratings agency said in a report yesterday. Fitch said 2010 might see positive earnings signs within the major UK banks’ domestic retail and commercial banking divisions, but warned any recovery [...]
City: MPs’ call for reform to banks is behind curve March 29, 2010 THE City accused politicians of remaining stuck in the “hysterical” phase of reaction to the financial crisis yesterday after MPs called for radical reform of the banking system. The Treasury Select Committee urged the government not to rule out breaking up systemically important banks, arguing the debate should be kept “as wide as possible” to protect [...]
RBS sells non-core asset to GE March 29, 2010 THE Royal Bank of Scotland yesterday sold its German invoice financing business to GE Capital, as it continues to offload non-core businesses. It said it would sell RBS Factoring GmbH, which provides loans secured against company invoices, to the American conglomerate but did not disclose the price or terms of the deal. Analysts said the [...]
Ericsson secures £1bn china deal March 29, 2010 Ericsson secured deals with Chinese operators totalling $1.8bn (£1.2bn), easing concerns the Swedish group would be badly stung by capital spending cuts by mobile firms in the world’s third biggest economy. Ericsson, the world’s biggest mobile network gear maker, signed a $1bn deal with China Mobile the worl’’s largest mobile carrier – and an $800 [...]
