NAB ‘to sell off UK assets’ March 7, 2012 National Australia Bank is likely to position its UK bank assets for sale after separating off its troubled commercial real-estate business at the end of an ongoing review of its UK operations, sources told Reuters. The result of the review is due in May, and it is still classified within NAB as an operational review [...]
Admiral profit rise fuelled by UK growth March 7, 2012 Motor insurer Admiral said its 2011 profit rose by a better-than-expected 13 percent, with continued strong growth in customer numbers in the UK outweighing a wider loss at its fledgling international operations. Admiral, which insures one in ten cars on Britain’s roads, made a pre-tax profit of £299m last year, it said on Wednesday, up [...]
HSBC sells insurance business for £518m March 7, 2012 HSBC has agreed to sell its general insurance businesses to French insurer AXA Group and Australia’s QBE Insurance Group for £581m in cash, as Europe’s biggest bank moves ahead with its plan to divest non-core assets. The deal, the latest in a series of cost cutting initiatives under new HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver, includes 10-year [...]
Brazil’s economy overtakes the UK March 6, 2012 BRAZIL’S economy is now bigger than the UK’s, making it the second emerging market to enter the top-tier of world economies and heralding the beginning of the end of Western economic dominance. Britain’s star is fading fast – the country now has the seventh biggest economy in the world, down from fourth in 2005, thanks [...]
Banks: stop FSA’s block on credit March 6, 2012 BANKS have hit out at the City watchdog for introducing new rules that are crippling the flow of credit to small firms, according to a secret document seen by City A.M. In a sign of frustration at the FSA’s hyper-strict regime, banks have called on a special government taskforce to intervene and curb what they [...]
Greek nerves dent markets March 6, 2012 PRE-BAILOUT nerves set global markets tumbling yesterday, as investors fretted about the prospect of Greece’s looming bond swap failing as well as the broader health of the Eurozone’s economy. The FTSE 100 lost 1.9 per cent to close at 5,765.80 points yesterday, suffering its biggest one-day fall in nearly three months, while Paris’s CAC 40 [...]
Industrial policies are doomed to fail March 6, 2012 SLOWLY but surely, the British establishment is forgetting the lessons of the past 35 years. We have seen the return of high taxes, a softer approach to inflation, talk of wealth taxes (eerily similar to those supported by the Labour party in 1979), the rationalisation of envy and now even a comeback for economic nationalism. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 6, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES FEARS GROW FOR $45BN UTILITY AS BUYOUT GROUPS’ HEDGES NEAR EXPIRY The world’s biggest private equity deal is facing rising financial pressure during the next two years with the expiry of contracts that underpinned the takeover of utility TXU. Investors in the $45bn buyout of the company, now known as Energy Future Holdings, [...]
Romney edges ahead in race to fight Obama March 6, 2012 MITT Romney notched up early wins as he fought to establish his dominance in the race for the Republican US presidential nomination last night but Ohio, the biggest prize of the evening, was too close to call. Romney won as expected in Virginia and Vermont, while rival Newt Gingrich won in his home state of [...]
Losses double and bidders desert Omega March 6, 2012 INSURER Omega has cancelled its dividend after pre-tax losses doubled to $94.7m (£60m) in 2011, up from $42.9m the year before. Investors were dismayed that the firm made no mention of a possible takeover in its annual report and its shares – which have already lost half their value in the last year – dropped a [...]
