Cut in bad debt spurs profit at National Australia Bank October 26, 2011 THE PARENT company of Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks has increased second-half cash profit by 17 per cent as bad-debt charges fell and mortgages grew at more than three times the rate of the industry. National Australia Bank said this morning that profit was a record A$2.79bn (£1.82bn), despite doubts over the immediate health of the [...]
ST PAUL’S HOPES TO RE-OPEN TOMORROW October 26, 2011 THE DEAN of St Paul’s, the Right Rev Graeme Knowles, said he is “optimistic” the cathedral will re-open tomorrow in time for the 12.30pm Eucharist following a re-shuffle of protesters’ tents. The cathedral refused to comment on reports that Rev Canon Dr Giles Fraser, the Chancellor, had threatened to resign if the church attempts an eviction. [...]
How are EU leaders doing? October 26, 2011 This week we are asking members of the City A.M. Voice of the City panel, run with PoliticsHome, how hopeful they are about the Eurozone’s efforts to right itself. Have leaders done enough to hold the single currency together? And can Berlusconi and other under-pressure heads of state keep their jobs amid the debt crisis? [...]
Cable anger at plans to make firing staff easier October 26, 2011 BUSINESS Secretary Vince Cable has shot down new plans to make it easier for companies to sack under-performing staff. Liberal Democrats said the proposal to scrap unfair dismissal rules, contained in a leaked report for the coalition by venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft, would not get off the ground. Aides to Cable said there was no [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 26, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES SANTANDER SEEKS TO OFFLOAD €3BN OF PROPERTY Spain’s Santander, the biggest bank in the Eurozone by market capitalisation, is quietly trying to sell a €3bn package of thousands of repossessed homes and plots of land to foreign investors to clean up its balance sheet, according to sources. THE TIMES RIO TINTO HAS TO [...]
Output of UK factories hit by euro woes October 26, 2011 MANUFACTURING has been hit by the Eurozone crisis, and output may decline this quarter according to the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly trends survey. Business optimism has fallen for the second consecutive quarter. The net balance of firms feeling more optimistic than they were three months ago fell to minus 30 per cent from [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE STATE OF THE UK ECONOMY? October 26, 2011 PETE GOAD | LLOYD’S OF LONDON “I am not overly concerned at the moment; it is definitely getting worse but I have every confidence that it will turn around over the next couple of years.” PAUL CLAYTON | JRP UNDERWRITING “Not really, not more than it was worrying me 20 years ago. What increasingly affects [...]
Record drop in retail jobs as consumers spend less October 26, 2011 LOW consumer spending has led to the fastest drop in retail employment since the British Retail Consortium (BRC) started monitoring data in 2008, a study released yesterday showed. Employment fell by 23,000 in the twelve months to September. Part-time staff were worst hit, while full time employment in the third quarter fell 5,780 on the [...]
BBVA sees impairments rise in Spanish business October 26, 2011 SPAIN’S second biggest lender, BBVA, saw profits drop and impairments in its core Spanish business rise in yesterday’s third-quarter results. The bank also gained market share in mortgages, increasing its exposure to the country’s troubled property market. Group pre-tax profits dropped by 21.2 per cent to €4.15bn (£3.61bn), while in Spain pre-tax earnings lost a [...]
Head of Freddie Mac set to quit October 26, 2011 FREDDIE Mac’s chief executive, Charles E “Ed” Haldeman Jr, will step down by the end of the year after just over two years in the post, the regulator of the company said yesterday. The US Federal Housing Finance Agency, which also oversees sister state-backed mortgage investor Fannie Mae, said it will work with the board [...]
