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 [...]
Monte dei Paschi’s ex-finance chief arrested in Italian probe February 14, 2013 ITALIAN police yesterday arrested the former head of Monte dei Paschi’s finance department, who is at the centre of an inquiry into alleged fraud and bribery at Italy’s third largest bank. Gianluca Baldassarri is the first person to be arrested in a widening scandal that has rocked the world’s oldest bank and stirred up a [...]
Orders soar as margins grow at Rolls-Royce February 14, 2013 ENGINEERING giant Rolls-Royce was the biggest blue-chip riser yesterday after it posted a 23.5 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits to £1.43bn. Rolls-Royce’s order book grew four per cent to £60.15bn last year, and revenues excluding currency changes rose eight per cent to £12.2bn. The gains mark Rolls-Royce’s tenth straight year of profit growth. [...]
Analyst Views | What did you make of Rolls-Royce’s results? February 14, 2013 ROGER JOHNSTON | EDISON Rolls produced another strong set of results, highlighting the benefits of the decade-long strategy, providing consistent results in all economic conditions. With operational progress showing through in financial improvements… we remain confident that Rolls’ strategy will continue to deliver. BEN BOURNE | LIBERUM Strong results, as expected. No material change to [...]
Reflections on Tulchan’s demise at Marks & Spencer February 14, 2013 FOUR weeks ago I asked Andrew Grant of Tulchan a simple question. Had his firm been fired from the retailer Marks & Spencer as its external financial public relations adviser, following the leaking of its annual results which forced their rushed and premature publication? Grant, rightly known for being courteous, well-informed and straightforward, responded that [...]
Horsemeat arrests as results revealed February 14, 2013 BRITISH police investigating alleged mislabeling of beef products arrested three people yesterday at facilities in Wales and Yorkshire which had handled horsemeat and were raided by police earlier. The arrests come as the first set of results from tests carried out by the Food Standards Agency into processed beef suspected of containing horsemeat are revealed [...]
