Thomas Cook sells India arm May 21, 2012 THOMAS COOK confirmed last night it has agreed to sell its Indian arm to Toronto-based Fairbridge Capital for 8.2bn rupees (£94m). Fairbridge, part of India-born billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial, will pay 50 rupees per share for its 77.1 per cent stake in Thomas Cook India. The travel firm, which is seeking to pay down [...]
Central bankers fear lost chance to rescue euro May 21, 2012 CENTRAL bankers from across Europe banded together yesterday to urge Eurozone governments to seize the opportunity given by the ECB to reform their economies, while they still have the chance. European Central Bank (ECB) board member Joerg Asmussen said that growth is vital to ending the sovereign debt crisis, but that economic reforms, rather than [...]
IIF says Spain will need €60bn to prop up the banking system May 21, 2012 SPANISH bank losses on bad loans could be as high as €260bn (£210.5bn), the International Institute of Finance (IIF) said yesterday, with up to €60bn needed to shore up the troubled country’s banking system. The IIF used figures based on the hit that Irish banks took in the financial crisis to make its predictions, with [...]
Investors keep pressure on weak governments’ borrowing May 21, 2012 SPAIN saw government borrowing costs edge up and its stocks slip further again yesterday, as uncertainty over the future of the Eurozone and the stability of the country’s banking sector continued to unnerve investors. Yields on 10-year Spanish bonds rose sharply from 6.266 per cent to 6.322 before dropping back to 6.276 per cent at [...]
EU details plan to clamp down on rating firms May 21, 2012 EUROPEAN Union countries agreed yesterday to press for new controls on credit ratings agencies, with a law to challenge the power of the debt raters whose downgrades of countries angered politicians as they struggle with an economic crisis. The draft rules, which will turn into EU law after the completion of negotiations with the European [...]
Back on the agenda: eurobonds May 21, 2012 Q What are eurobonds? A It depends on whom you ask. At their most basic level, “euro bonds” are a way of using Germany’s fiscal credibility to underwrite the huge debt piles of more profligate countries. In other words, they are effectively a way of transferring German wealth to other countries. Q How do they [...]
Germans harden opposition to eurobonds before key summit May 21, 2012 GERMANY remains opposed to the introduction of jointly-backed eurobonds to tackle the Eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis, a government spokesman announced yesterday. New French President Francois Hollande and some other Eurozone leaders are expected to revive proposals for mutualised European debt or eurobonds at an informal EU summit in Brussels tomorrow evening. By gaining German backing [...]
CONSTRUCTION SLUMP HITS GROWTH OUTLOOK May 21, 2012 CONSTRUCTION output in the Eurozone fell sharply in the year to March, official figures showed yesterday, delivering a blow to ECB president Mario Draghi, and underlining the weakness of the economy. Production in the sector dropped 3.8 per cent compared with the same month of 2011, according to Eurostat, while output for the EU as [...]
UK raised taxes while other EU states cut back May 21, 2012 BRITAIN’S income taxes jumped sharply at a time when much of the rest of Europe was reducing the burden on high earners, official statistics showed yesterday. Even in corporation tax, where George Osborne aims to make the UK more competitive, other countries have cut taxes further and faster than Britain, leaving the UK’s rate above [...]
London not yet in the race for Facebook type flotations May 21, 2012 WITH financial markets in a state of nervousness, the $104bn Facebook flotation appeared to be a godsend for the few investment banks involved. So far this year, investment banks’ equity advisory teams have had a pretty rotten time. The year all started promisingly enough, with the Italian bank Unicredit managing to get a £6bn rights [...]
