NEW YORK REPORT August 4, 2009 US stocks edged higher yesterday, led by the financial sector as economic data pointed to a sustained if slow recovery from the recession, taking the Dow and the S&P 500 to nine-month highs. The Nasdaq achieved its highest close since early October. US consumers spent more in June, though partly because of rising gasoline prices, [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 4, 2009 Ernst & YoungErnst & Young is expanding its London and Bermuda business with the promotion of three staff. The insurance practice has admitted Richard Battersby and Jeff Soar as partners and promoted Andy Worth to director. Battersby will become the transactions advisory partner, Soar (pictured) will be providing tax services to Lloyd’s and London market [...]
PENSIONS CRISIS AS DEFICITS SOAR August 4, 2009 FTSE 100 companies are running a combined pension deficit of £96bn, the largest ever recorded, a leading firm of consulting actuaries will reveal today. The collapse in stock markets means that the shortfall is more than twice the £41bn recorded a year ago, Lane Clark & Peacock’s (LCP) will say. The financial crisis has also [...]
SEC moots a ban of flash trades August 4, 2009 THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to launch a crackdown on so-called “flash” trades, extremely fast transactions made on electronic trading systems, due to concerns that the practice disadvantages some investors. SEC chairman Mary Schapiro said yesterday that she had told staff to find a way to “eliminate the inequity that results from [...]
Profit boost from Fortis puts BNP chief in buoyant mood August 4, 2009 BNP PARIBAS posted higher second-quarter profit yesterday thanks in part to its purchase of Fortis assets, and expressed some optimism over prospects for financial markets. Net profit rose 6.6 per cent from a year earlier to €1.6bn (£1.36bn), while gross operating profit rose 44.7 per cent to €4.06bn, beating an average analysts’ forecast of €3.67bn. [...]
Fresh losses at UBS dent hopes of a quick recovery August 4, 2009 TROUBLED Swiss lender UBS saw its second quarter losses widen by a factor of three yesterday, as its bottom line was dented by charges on its own debt, a loss on the sale of its Brazilian unit and job cuts. The bank fell to a quarterly net loss of Sfr1.4bn (£780m), down from a Sfr395m [...]
Standard Chartered aided by Asian rally August 4, 2009 STANDARD Chartered yesterday raised $1.7bn (£1.02bn) in a share sale after reporting a 10 per cent jump in pre-tax profits for the first six months of the year. Pre-tax operating profit reached $2.84bn, beating the $2.59bn booked in the first half of 2008 and well ahead of an analysts’ consensus forecast provided by the bank [...]
IS STANDARD CHARTERED REALLY AS ROBUST AS IT APPEARS? August 4, 2009 SANDY CHEN PANMURE GORDON“We would have been happier if these results and the dividend hike had not been accompanied by the share placement; the combination begs questions about what management is trying to signal. We interpret this as a sign of management’s confidence, in both macro prospects and the emerging markets business model.” NIC CLARKE [...]
Rock suffers on bad debts August 4, 2009 NATIONALISED mortgage lender Northern Rock posted a £724.2m first-half loss yesterday, as the number of bad debts trebled. The bank, taken into public ownership in February last year, wrote down £602.2m in bad loans, up 214 per cent on the £191.6m in writedowns it took in the first half of 2008. The outlook for the [...]
Not all banks were given state handouts August 4, 2009 ANOTHER day; another row about banking profits, bonuses and the future of the City. The nationalised Northern Rock’s numbers were poor as expected – but for some reason, the pundits are more concerned with banks that are doing reasonably well. And not any institution: they couldn’t care less about Standard Chartered, a well-managed group which [...]
