BNP Paribas hit by US legal fears February 13, 2014 GIANT French bank BNP Paribas yesterday set aside €798m (£655m) to cover any fines from the US under a probe into possible sanction-breaking. The lender also took a hit from €252m of impairments, mostly made up of a €186m goodwill impairment in its Italian unit BNL. BNP Paribas’ annual profits fell 26.4 per cent after that [...]
Commerzbank swings back into the black after cutting its costs February 13, 2014 GERMAN lender Commerzbank swung back to a profit in 2013, the bank said yesterday, after successfully trimming costs. Profits came in at €78m (£64m) in the year, compared with a loss of €47m in 2012. However, chief executive Martin Blessing turned down his bonus, saying the results were not strong enough yet. Income for the [...]
Shard skyscraper attracts more tenants February 13, 2014 SIX TENANTS have now taken up space in London’s glass-clad skyscraper the Shard, with 170,000 square feet or 30 per cent of the building’s office space now let. Developer Irvine Seller confirmed that venture capitalists Foresight Group and lawyers Mathys & Squire were among the new tenants to have taken space, with companies due to [...]
EasyJet wins shareholder vote February 13, 2014 EasyJet saw off a protest vote from founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou yesterday to win every vote at its annual meeting. Stelios voted his family’s 147m shares against the 2013 pay plans, which saw boss Carolyn McCall paid £6.4m, but almost no other shareholders joined him. A source close to the tycoon said he would continue [...]
Big six get 5.5m complaints in 2013 February 13, 2014 The big six energy companies received more than 5.5m complaints last year, according to new research from consumer group Which, with the most complaints coming from the last quarter of the year. “No industry wants unhappy customers but when you are dealing with nearly 27m customers things can occasionally go wrong,” said industry body Energy [...]
Auto-enrolment signs up 2.8m February 13, 2014 Nearly three million employees have been auto-enrolled into pension schemes in the year and a half to the end of January, according to the Pensions Regulator. Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown called the figures “a good start”, but added that most people are not contributing enough. “Even in another four years’ [...]
Stocks rocked by Rolls-Royce growth warning February 13, 2014 ROLLS-ROYCE said its profits fell more than a third in the last year, and warned there will be no growth in 2014 either, sending its shares tumbling almost 14 per cent and dragging the FTSE 100 lower yesterday. The engineering giant reported pre-tax profits of £1.76bn, down 36 per cent on the previous year, though [...]
Analyst Views: How did you take Rolls’ results and outlook for the year? February 13, 2014 SASH TUSA | EDISON INVESTMENT RESEARCH Rolls’ management is likely to focus on the operational challenges associated with the falling defence backlog and transition to a high level of Trent XWB deliveries. [T]he continued news-flow concerning the SFO investigations… [is] likely to be an unwelcome distraction, but not core to the investment case. JONATHAN JACKSON [...]
Inside Track: Rothschild shows independent advisers are on a roll February 13, 2014 AT THE top of Rothschild’s impressive and relatively newly-built London headquarters, a modern building set in the 17th century St Swithin’s Lane in the heart of the City, is an auditorium which the firm’s bankers use to host what are known as kick-off meetings for the flotations they’re working on. Over the past few months, [...]
Shell set to sell off three North Sea oil assets February 13, 2014 ROYAL Dutch Shell yesterday confirmed its plans to sell off three UK North Sea assets, as part of its $15bn (£9bn) divestment strategy. The FTSE 100-quoted oil giant is selling Anasuria and Nelson, two assets near Aberdeen, as well as Sean, near Lowestoft in Suffolk. “These changes are very much in line with our strategy [...]
