CHANGES TO THE BANK LEVY February 8, 2011 Q.WHICH BANKS WILL BE HIT BY THE LEVY? A.The revised levy will apply to UK banks on all equities and liabilities after a £20bn allowance is reached. It applies the same rules to the UK operations of foreign banks. HOW MATERIAL IS TODAY’S CHANGE? Initially, the rate that banks pay will be increased to 0.1 [...]
UBS predicts rebound as profits rise February 8, 2011 UBS EXPECTS to win more client money for its wealth management business in 2011 and sees a rebound in the investment banking division, it said yesterday as it unveiled fourth quarter results. Switzerland’s biggest bank said it had seen improvement across private banking in the fourth quarter — with total net new money of SwFr7.1bn [...]
NAB gains on borrowing rise February 8, 2011 NATIONAL Australia Bank (NAB), the nation’s top lender, picked up market share in home and business lending in the December quarter and said it expects business credit demand to pick up in late 2011. NAB reported an 18 per cent rise in first-quarter cash profit yesterday, just ahead of analysts’ forecasts, on lower bad debt [...]
Swedbank plans buyback as it returns to the black February 8, 2011 SWEDISH lender Swedbank set more aggressive targets yesterday for returning money to investors after reporting a bumper fourth quarter, driving its shares higher. The bank was back in the black for the full-year thanks to a recovery in the crisis-hit Baltic market, where heavy loan losses had resulted in a group operating loss of almost [...]
The tanker is finally facing the right way February 8, 2011 WHEN Oswald Grübel came out of retirement in February 2009 to take the helm at UBS, he quickly set himself gruelling targets. The bank would be booking at least SwFr15bn (£9.7bn) in annual profits, he said, at some point between 2012 and 2014. After yesterday’s results, which saw the bank return to the black with [...]
US hedgies hit in insider case February 8, 2011 TWO hedge fund managers were arrested on insider trading charges yesterday, while another portfolio manager and an analyst agreed to plead guilty in connection with the probe, the latest development in a broad investigation of hedge funds’ trading activities. The charges were announced by federal prosecutors, who are investigating the ties between hedge funds and [...]
It’s a No Show for Davis, the ABI’s new non-recruit February 8, 2011 THE ABI, the voice of the UK’s insurance and investment industry, is once again looking for a director of Investment Affairs following the shock decision of Jonathan Davis not to take up the role as agreed in November. Davis said that his other commitments made it difficult for him to commit sufficiently to the job. [...]
China drives luxury German car sales February 8, 2011 GERMAN carmakers BMW and Audi have reported record January sales, boosted by demand for luxury vehicles in Russia and China. Audi, the high-end brand owned by Volkswagen, said it delivered around 95,400 cars to customers worldwide last month, an increase of 22.6 per cent on the same period last year. Munich-based BMW, the world’s biggest [...]
McDonald’s boosted by Europeans February 8, 2011 MCDONALD’S yesterday reported a stronger-than-expected sales rebound in January in Europe, its biggest market for revenue. Sales at restaurants in Europe open at least 13 months jumped seven per cent last month, well above the 3.7 per cent analysts had expected. This was also a significant improvement from December, when sales in Europe fell 0.5 [...]
BRAZIL AND RUSSIA HURT AVON’S SALES February 8, 2011 AVON Products the world’s largest direct seller of cosmetics, posted a steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly profit yesterday, hurt by poor performance in Brazil and Russia. Avon, led by Andrea Jung (above), earned $229.5m (£142.6m), or 53 cents per share, in the quarter, down from $269.4m, or 62 cents per share, a year earlier.
