China faces 413m bank fraud August 5, 2009 China is dealing with its largest suspected bank fraud, after the chairman of a large property firm, Canton Properties, appeared in court yesterday facing allegations over a 4.8bn yuan (£413m) scam. Wang Sheng is believed to have obtained a number of illegal loans from Bank of Communications, a state controlled lender, 18.6 per cent owned [...]
Swiss Re falls into red as volatile markets damage bond portfolio August 5, 2009 ZURICH reinsurance giant Swiss Re posted a shock second-quarter net loss yesterday following heavy losses on its bond investments, and warned the difficult market conditions will continue to hurt. The firm said it made a net loss of Sfr381m (£212m), compared with a profit of Sfr564m for the same period a year earlier. The loss [...]
O2 fears loss of iPhone exclusivity August 5, 2009 O2 is bracing itself for losing a monopoly to sell Apple’s iPhone in the UK. O2’s exclusivity deal with Apple could end on 9 October due to a two year break clause in its contract. T–Mobile and Orange are both believed to be waiting for a slice of Apple’s lucrative business.
TURBULENCE AHEAD August 5, 2009 HONG KONG’S leading airline Cathay Pacific Airways posted first-half pre-tax profits of HK$1.18bn (£89.7m) yesterday, up from a loss of HK$660m in the same period last year, helped out by gains in fuel hedging. The airline said it had enough cash to buy aircraft, but warned of a difficult market ahead.
Correction: John Connolly August 5, 2009 We stated yesterday that Deloitte senior partner and chief executive of the UK office and chairman of its global management committee John Connolly was the chief auditor to RBS. This is not the case.
Jamie Oliver cooks up a storm August 5, 2009 Jamie Oliver, the celebrity chef yesterday revealed one of his subsidiary companies made £6.8m pre-tax profits last year, an 82 per cent jump on the year before. The sale of TV shows overseas and book sales meant turnover increased by 18 per cent. Oliver and his wife Jools awarded themselves a dividend payout of £800,000 for [...]
Axa warns on pensions, cuts jobs August 5, 2009 Europe’s second-biggest insurer Axa warned future pensioners that UK retirement incomes from annuities have been too generous in the past and will be cut from current levels once new European rules for insurers are brought in. It added that it will cut a further 350 jobs in the UK, after it unveiled a 39 per [...]
Deadline for NatEx bid issued August 5, 2009 The Takeover Panel last night issued a five-week deadline to Stagecoach and a Spanish-led consortium to make an approach for troubled rail and bus group National Express.
Lloyds makes loss but sees a ray of light August 5, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group sank to a £4bn pre-tax loss in the first half, due to writedowns on the property loan portfolio it inherited from HBOS, but said that it believed impairments had reached their peak and would decline rapidly. The bank saw impairment rise from £2.5bn in the first half of 2008 to £13.4bn, 80 [...]
SocGen sees profits slide as bad debts mount, but investment banking thrives August 5, 2009 SOCIETE Générale (SocGen) suffered a 52 per cent decline in net profit, the French bank said yesterday, as losses on bad loans mounted and it wrote down its derivatives holdings. France’s second largest bank, posted profits of €309m (£269m) for the quarter, down from €644m in the same period of last year, despite revenue rising [...]
