LLOYDS HIT BY SURGE IN PPI COMPLAINTS September 6, 2011 LLOYDS (led by Antonio Horta Osorio, pictured) was the most complained-about bank in the first half of 2011 after being hit by a flood of disputes over mis-sold payment protection insurance, the financial ombudsman service said yesterday. It received 37,696 complaints against Lloyds Banking Group, of which about 26,910 were related to PPI. Barclays received [...]
Unicredit chief says bank plans to double its presence in China September 6, 2011 ITALY’S biggest bank Unicredit plans to double its presence in China to secure growth in the market, its general manager said yesterday. Roberto Nicastro said Unicredit will open new branches in Beijing, mid-west cities such as Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as along the coast to gain a greater foothold in Asia’s biggest economy. “The [...]
Oz bid for RBS airline assets September 6, 2011 AUSTRALIA’S Macquarie Group is preparing a bid for the aircraft leasing arm of Royal Bank of Scotland in a deal that could be worth at least $6bn. The bank is in early stages of putting together an offer and is exploring a number of options, which include making a direct offer or putting together a [...]
EasyJet delivers strong rise in passenger traffic in August September 6, 2011 BUDGET airline easyJet carried 5.54m passengers during August, notching up a 6.5 per cent rise on last year’s figures in what is traditionally the travel industry’s busiest month. For the 12 months to the end of August, easyJet took 54.1m passengers on its flights – a rise of 11.8 per cent on the previous year. [...]
Sanofi aims for €2bn cost savings as Genzyme prompts an overhaul September 6, 2011 FRENCH drugmaker Sanofi expects annual earnings to rise more than five per cent on average in the next four years as a strategic shift into new growth areas insulates it from blockbuster drugs going off patent. The firm, which bought US biotech group Genzyme for $20.1bn earlier in the year, said it hopes to make [...]
Betfair falls short of World Cup high September 6, 2011 BETFAIR shares surged more than five per cent per cent yesterday despite falling short of the heights it reached during last year’s World Cup. The betting exchange was buoyed by record mobile phone betting as well as strong trading at Royal Ascot, Wimbledon and the Open Golf Championship. It said its first quarter revenue fell [...]
International Paper seals $3.7bn deal for Temple Inland September 6, 2011 INTERNATIONAL Paper sealed a $3.7bn (£2.3bn) deal to buy rival Temple Inland by raising its offer five per cent, cementing its position as the leader of the North American corrugated packaging market. The deal, which is expected to close by the end of 2012, came together after a Labor Day weekend meeting between IP chief [...]
Obama adviser hired to head Sony’s security September 6, 2011 SONY has hired an ex-US Department of Homeland Security official to head up its security team in a bid to ensure it does not fall victim to a second catastrophic hacking attack. Philip Reitinger, previously director of the US National Cyber Security Center, will be tasked with making sure Sony has closed the gaps in its [...]
Record year for Allocate September 6, 2011 Allocate Software yesterday announced its fifth consecutive year of record growth, driving revenues up 37 per cent despite choppy trading waters. The workforce management software retailer also pushed its underlying earnings up 57 per cent to £5.8m. Chief executive Ian Bowles said: “We continued to strengthen our position in both the overseas and the UK [...]
Dell to launch a tablet in China in deal with Baidu September 6, 2011 DELL and China’s top search engine Baidu plan to jointly develop tablet computers and mobile phones, targeting the Chinese market dominated by Apple and Lenovo. China is one of the fastest growing markets for tablets and is home to more than 900m mobile phone subscribers, but analysts were sceptical that the partnership would unseat Apple [...]
