StanChart slumps despite record half August 4, 2010 STANDARD Chartered saw its share price tumble yesterday despite posting its tenth successive half of record profits. The hike in income failed to match some analyst forecasts and sent the shares down closing 3.1 per cent lower at 1,804p, with analysts pointing to hedge funds shifting to other banks. Standard Chartered reported first half profit [...]
Santander scoops 318 RBS branches after £4.5bn boost August 4, 2010 SPANISH giant Santander fired a warning shot across the bows of UK lenders yesterday, agreeing to buy 318 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland and preparing to reshuffle its global operations. Santander will become the fourth-largest bank on the high street after it takes over the outlets from RBS for £1.7bn. The deal, due to [...]
HSBC USA under investigation for its money laundering policies August 4, 2010 AMERICAN authorities are investigating the US division of banking group HSBC over its compliance with anti-money laundering procedures, according to regulatory papers. HSBC USA stated it has received subpoenas and other requests for information as part of the probe in a filing to the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). The bank is the subject [...]
Lloyds Group August 4, 2010 SAME script, different cast. Eric Daniels is still in the role of greedy banker, but the morally outraged chorus is now played by Messrs Cameron, Osborne and Cable. “Lend to every two-bit small business that asks for cash,” they chant, with just as much zeal as their predecessors, Brown, Darling and Mandelson. Of course, they [...]
SocGen beats forecasts as profits treble August 4, 2010 French bank Societe Generale yesterday warned the economic recovery was still fragile, with moderate growth prospects in Europe, after it beat forecasts with over a three-fold leap in second-quarter net profit. The bank, which last month easily passed a Europe-wide stress test with a Tier 1 capital ratio of 10 per cent, said it was [...]
Deutsche Post uncertain as ups bad debt provision August 4, 2010 DEUTSCHE Postbank revealed a return to profit in the second quarter yesterday but warned business may be more subdued for the rest of the year. Germany’s largest retail bank by clients increased its loan loss provisions to €175m (£144.9m) in the second quarter, citing adjustments made to its exposure to commercial real estate. Deutsche Postbank [...]
Allied Irish eyes fourth quarter cash call on loss August 4, 2010 Minority state-owned Allied Irish Banks aims to sell its overseas assets by September and raise more capital in the fourth quarter, it said yesterday after reporting a more than doubling of first-half losses. Allied Irish last month scraped through European stress tests with a Tier 1 ratio of 6.5 per cent, after including the €7.4bn [...]
AXA posts first-half loss August 4, 2010 AXA, Europe’s second-biggest insurer by market value, posted a net income fall of 29 per cent to €944m (£782m) yesterday driven by the loss of €1.48bn from the sale of some UK Life operations to insurer Resolution. The French firm also announced a management reshuffle. It said Nicolas Moreau, chief executive of the UK arm [...]
L&G shares drop despite dividend hike August 4, 2010 LEGAL & GENERAL shares fell yesterday even though the life insurer announced a 20 per cent hike to its dividend on the back of rising annuity returns and strong inflows. Uninspired by chief executive Tim Breedon’s “mixed” outlook for the coming year, investors sold L&G stock. The firm’s share price fell 1.3 per cent to [...]
Munich Re results beat consensus August 4, 2010 MUNICH RE reported much stronger-than-expected earnings in the second quarter, bolstered by surging investment income that offset hits from damage claims such as the sunken Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The world’s biggest reinsurer reported quarterly net profit of €709m (£588m), which was above the highest forecast of €570m and well [...]
