Growth helps UK’s bad bank repay £1.9bn August 6, 2013 RISING house prices and the improving state of the economy helped increase profits at the so-called bad bank made up of the remains of Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley, UK Asset Resolution said yesterday. In the first half of the year UKAR repaid £1.9bn to the government, with underlying pre-tax profits jumping 10 per [...]
Osborne told the time is right for him to sell stake in Lloyds August 6, 2013 LLOYDS has recovered sufficiently that the government could sell its stake in the bank imminently, officials told George Osborne yesterday. City A.M. understands that UK Financial Investments, the agency responsible for handling the taxpayers’ stake in the bailed out banks, is in the final stages of assessing the possibility of a sale. But Treasury sources [...]
UBS hit with $50m bill to settle mortgage bond claim August 6, 2013 SWISS bank UBS yesterday agreed to pay $49.8m (£32.4m) to settle claims it misled investors in a mortgage bond product, and kept money which should have gone to benefit investors. The bank has not admitted wrongdoing in the settlement, which ends the probe into the collateralised debt obligation (CDO) created in 2007. The Securities and [...]
Strong exports up taper chance August 6, 2013 THE US trade deficit shrank 22.4 per cent to a three-and-a-half year low in June, official stats revealed yesterday. The US Commerce Department reported a trade gap of $34.2bn, with exports of goods and services up 2.2 per cent to a record $191.2bn. Analysts at Capital Economics said the data suggests that “second-quarter GDP growth [...]
Asia slowdown hurts earnings at StanChart August 6, 2013 BRITISH bank Standard Chartered saw profits fall in the first half of the year, yesterday announcing a $1bn (£652m) writedown on Korean operations and warnings of the possible impact of China’s economic slowdown. The emerging markets-focused lender saw pre-tax profits dip 15.5 per cent on the year, falling from $3.9bn to $3.3bn. In Korea the [...]
Credit Agricole income surges after pulling out of EU periphery August 6, 2013 FRENCH lender Credit Agricole saw profits rebound in the second quarter, it announced yesterday, after selling off or slimming down its units in Greece and Italy. By shifting its focus away from the recession-struck nations, the bank saw profits come in at €696m (£602.5m), more than 12 times higher than the €56m recorded in the [...]
UniCredit profit up on cost cuts August 6, 2013 PROFITS more than doubled at Italian lender UniCredit in the second quarter, the bank announced yesterday. It made a net profit of €361m (£312.6m), up 113.8 per cent on the same period last year. Costs fell 1.8 per cent on the year, led by a 2.7 per cent reduction in staff costs. The bank cut [...]
Natixis keeps figures steady August 6, 2013 FRENCH investment bank Natixis yesterday said second quarter profits had flat lined despite a small uptick in revenues. The group reported pre-tax profits of €435m (£376.9m) for the three months ending June, the same amount for the period last year. Revenues increased two per cent to €1.79bn. “Natixis’s core businesses managed to grow revenues despite [...]
InterContinental Hotels gets a boost from strong US demand August 6, 2013 INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group said yesterday it would return $350m to shareholders via a special dividend as it posted a big rise in first-half profits on the back of strong US demand. The company behind the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands said operating profit rose 20 per cent to $338m (£220m) for the six months [...]
Greggs cooks up new recipe to revive sales August 6, 2013 GREGGS’ new chief executive unveiled plans yesterday to pull the chain away from its roots in the dwindling bread business and focus on food-on-the-go after posting a slump in profits. Roger Whiteside said 70 per cent of customers visited Greggs for “food-on-the-go”, but it was losing share in the £6bn market due to growing competition [...]
