UBS profitability hurt by new investigations October 29, 2013 SWISS bank UBS yesterday revealed it has pushed back its profitability targets because of extra provisions against litigation expenses, which dented its third quarter profits. Regulators in its home country as well as the US and UK are looking at possible foreign exchange manipulation, while the bank is still facing some interest rate benchmark probes [...]
Lloyds hopes for a 2013 dividend October 29, 2013 LLOYDS hopes to pay a dividend for this year after returning to profit, chief executive Antonio Horta Osorio revealed yesterday. The bailed out bank began its privatisation last month when the government sold a £3.2bn stake in the lender, and resuming dividend payments would be another key step on the return to normality for Lloyds. [...]
Nomura and Daiwa profit from Abenomics October 29, 2013 NOMURA Holdings and Daiwa Securities Group reported jumps in quarterly profit yesterday, but slowing trade in Tokyo stocks has knocked some wind out of a resurgence of Japan’s top two investment banks. While the latest quarter revealed some bright spots, such as Nomura expanding revenues from fixed income trading while most of its peers suffered [...]
Emerging market slowdown hits StanChart October 29, 2013 STANDARD Chartered reported a fall in profits in the third quarter yesterday, as the bank’s focus on emerging markets left it exposed to poor growth in its core markets. The UK-based bank said its profits fell “by a low single digit percentage” compared with the same period of 2012. For the first nine months of the [...]
BP results beat forecasts as it hikes dividend October 29, 2013 OIL MAJOR BP rose to the top of the FTSE 100 yesterday, after third-quarter results beat expectations and a dividend hike pleased investors. The firm posted underlying net profit of $3.692bn (£2.3bn), up from $2.712bn the previous quarter and higher than analysts’ consensus forecasts of $3.17bn. BP is increasing its quarterly dividend by 5.6 per [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of BP’s third-quarter results? October 29, 2013 NEILL MORTON | INVESTECThe stock market doesn’t want the oil majors to spend money. Instead, investors want their cash back. And BP has obliged, with an increase in the dividend, a new $10bn disposal programme and plans for flat capex in 2014. But this could be overshadowed by the Gulf of Mexico legal fallout. RONNIE [...]
Ex-Co-op boss was not worried over Britannia October 29, 2013 FORMER Co-operative Bank boss Barry Tootell yesterday said he was not concerned about the Britannia merger, as regulators and auditors had not flagged up any problems. Tootell told MPs the Financial Services Authority had reviewed the building society and found only minor losses in its loan book. Since that takeover in 2009 losses on Britannia [...]
UK consumer confidence climbs to the highest level in six years October 29, 2013 BRITONS’ confidence is back, with consumers at their most confident since 2007, according to a survey out today from Nielsen. In a new sign the recovery is on track, more consumers think it is a good time to spend money than at any point since 2006. Consumer confidence jumped eight points on Nielsen’s index to [...]
UK mortgage approvals hit a five-year peak October 29, 2013 BRITISH lenders approved the most mortgages in over five years last month as borrowing costs sank to their lowest in a decade, central bank data showed yesterday, setting the stage for further house price rises. Business lending also picked up – though only for larger firms – but the figures did little to dispel concerns [...]
Mixed data for US retail sector October 29, 2013 A GAUGE of US consumer spending rose in September as Americans snapped up leisure goods, but a falling measure of confidence pointed to sluggish economic growth during the third quarter. Retail sales, excluding gasoline, automobiles and building materials, increased 0.5 per cent last month. Yet a separate index showed consumer morale falling from a score [...]
