Saudi says it will meet oil shortages February 22, 2011 SAUDI Arabia yesterday said it would step in to meet shortage in oil caused by the chaos in Libya. Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi said there would be no shortage and that other Opec members would step into the breach should production be jeopardised. Speaking at the sidelines of an oil conference in Riyadh, [...]
Egypt asks UK for debt help February 22, 2011 Egypt has asked the UK to help it cancel its debt with the EU. Finance minister Samir Radwan revealed he held talks with new UK trade minister Lord Stephen Green. Egypt wants the EU to halt interest payments and consider cancelling the entire debt, as the North African country seeks to get back on its [...]
Italian bourse shut down after spooked investors sell off stocks February 22, 2011 THE Italian bourse was brought down yesterday following frenzied sales of stocks by investors spooked by its heavy exposure to Libya. Trading in stocks, bonds, warrants and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had been suspended from the start of the day until 2.30pm. Borsa Italiana, a unit of the London Stock Exchange, said the cause of the [...]
Santander in sale of LatAm insurance arm February 22, 2011 INSURANCE giant Zurich Financial Services signed a $1.67bn (£1.03bn) distribution deal with Spanish bank Santander yesterday to fast track its growth in Latin America. The 25-year deal sees Zurich take a 51 per cent stake in Santander’s life insurance, pension and general insurance operations in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. The sale will free [...]
M&A by energy firms at highest levels on record February 22, 2011 DEALS between energy and power firms have helped to boost the volume of mergers and acquisitions to $93.7bn (£57.9bn), the highest level since records began. Activity, boosted by several large deals, lifted deal volume by 40 per cent compared to the first few months of last year. The figure was helped by three of the [...]
Zurich taps growth market February 22, 2011 YOU would think Santander must be mad for selling part of its life insurance business in Latin America. True, the industry hasn’t been growing at its scorching pre-crisis rate, but the potential still eclipses most other markets. In 2010, Santander grew its Latin American insurance premiums by almost a third to $1.9bn, and there is [...]
BAA narrows annual losses despite snow February 22, 2011 HEATHROW and Stansted owner BAA narrowed its losses to £316.6m in 2010, it announced yesterday, as a rise in retail spending at its airports made up for some of the £58m hit from snow, ash and strike disruption. BAA, owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, said revenue rose 4.9 per cent to £2.07bn last year. Losses were [...]
BHP’s shale gas deal gets a thumbs up from the market February 22, 2011 BHP Billiton’s share price rose yesterday after details of its $4.75bn (£2.94bn) purchase of US gas firm Chesapeake’s assets and $5bn buy-back filtered through the market. BHP, which announced the plans to the London market yesterday, said it would take over Chesapeake’s shale gas reserves in the Fayetteville field in Arkansas to gain an exposure [...]
UK market for cocos to be worth £44bn February 22, 2011 THE market for contingent convertible bonds (cocos) in the UK alone is worth at least £44bn, according to analysis by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. The figure is equivalent to two per cent of risk-weighted assets at the UK’s five largest banks, which is a low-ball estimate of the extra capital buffer that systemically important banks [...]
Europe rushes to sell debt February 22, 2011 FEBRUARY has been the busiest month for European sovereign debt issuance since March 2010, according to data from Thomson Reuters. With only a few days in the year’s shortest month left to go, the data shows that sovereigns have been packing their debt sales into the first quarter, with $21.3bn (£13.1bn) issued so far and [...]
