BlackRock bond head quits role February 14, 2013 BLACKROCK, the world’s largest money manager, said yesterday Peter Fisher was stepping down as head of fixed income at the New York-based firm. Fisher will become a senior director at the BlackRock Investment Institute, which produces research for investors. BlackRock chief executive Laurence Fink said Fisher, 56, had completed a multi-year turnaround to improve performance [...]
Buffett’s taste for beans gives deal outlook a shot in the arm February 14, 2013 IF confirmation were needed that mega-deals are back on the agenda, then the Sage of Omaha certainly provided it yesterday. Buffett’s $28bn move for Heinz is the biggest deal this year in an already booming market, with the value of transactions in the last week alone – including Liberty Global’s bid for Virgin Media and [...]
Eurozone GDP sinks further in fourth quarter February 14, 2013 THE EUROZONE suffered another sliding quarter of output in the final three months of 2012, with worse-than expected contractions in both France and Germany. The bloc’s GDP slid 0.6 per cent in the final quarter, Eurostat revealed yesterday, below the consensus forecast predicting a 0.4 per cent fall and capping off a yearly decline of [...]
Tax cheat ban on state deals questioned February 14, 2013 LAWYERS yesterday raised concerns over plans to ban companies that have taken part in aggressive tax avoidance schemes from bidding for large government contracts. Ministers said the rules, which are due to come into effect at the start of April, will force businesses who want Whitehall contracts worth more than £2m to disclose whether HMRC [...]
BNP Paribas cuts costs as red tape hits February 14, 2013 FRENCH bank BNP Paribas is launching a major cost cutting programme to shore up profits in the face of tough markets and regulatory pressures, the lender said yesterday. Profits came in at €514m (£422.6m) for the final quarter of 2012, down 32.8 per cent on the same period of 2012. But income for the year [...]
Bankia bailout authority moves closer to diluting shareholders February 14, 2013 SHARES in Spanish lender Bankia plunged yesterday on fears the recapitalisation plan for the group could almost wipe out investors. The nationalised institution applied for a European rescue worth €18bn (£15.48bn), leaving shareholders fearing the worst. Spanish newspaper reports that the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB) would value shares at €0.01 sent the stock [...]
More banks in swap scandal February 14, 2013 SIX MORE banks are reviewing all their sales of interest rate swap products after the finance watchdog found over 90 per cent of sales examined broke the rules, the Financial Services Authority said yesterday. Allied Irish bank, the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, Co-Operative Bank, Santander UK and the Bank of Ireland will all review their [...]
Ex-Lloyds boss defends PPI February 14, 2013 FORMER Lloyds chief Eric Daniels yesterday claimed most PPI policies were not missold, and that banks had even paid out to customers who did not have insurance because of the overwhelming volume of complaints. “I believe customers did know what they were buying. They got good value. In those cases where they were missold products, [...]
Manchester United kick on as commercial revenue expands February 14, 2013 MANCHESTER United’s growing commercial operations boosted its revenues and pre-tax profits in the final quarter of last year, the club announced yesterday. The New York-listed football giant said that commercial sales reached £35.6m in the three months to 31 December 2013, allowing revenue to edge up to £110.1m – 8.7 per cent higher than the [...]
Qatar interest lifts VTB stock February 14, 2013 SHARES in Russian bank VTB shot up as much as five per cent yesterday after reports that Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is preparing to invest up to $3.5bn (£2.3bn). VTB, which has offices in Moscow, London New York and Singapore, is said to be in the final stages of talks with the Qatar Investment Authority [...]
