Petrofac plays down Iraq risk June 24, 2014 THE CHAOS in Iraq should not have a significant impact on Petrofac’s earnings this year, the oil firm said yesterday. Operations in the country account for just five per cent of its revenues and so far have not been hurt by the carnage. “The group’s backlog stands at record levels, giving us good revenue visibility for the [...]
Shares plunge in Dubai after Arabtec panic June 24, 2014 DUBAI’S stock market plunged 6.68 per cent yesterday as the fallout from construction firm Arabtec’s troubles spread across the rest of the state’s equities. The builder’s chief executive Hasan Ismaik quit last week. He owns 28.5 per cent of the firm and the future of that stake is uncertain. Arabtec was forced to deny reports [...]
Islamic lender Gatehouse Bank sets up £11.7m Fitzrovia funding June 24, 2014 GATEHOUSE Bank yesterday completed its first real estate financing deal, testing the waters of the sector for Sharia-compliant investors and borrowers. The £11.7m deal funds a joint venture between Princeton Property Partners and Resolution Property, and will turn an office block in Fitzrovia into eight flats. Islamic financing deals cannot be based on interest in the [...]
Sainsbury’s Bank doubles its workforce June 24, 2014 SAINSBURY’S hired 500 more workers yesterday as it expands its foreign currency operations through its banking arm. The expansion of its deal with forex provider Travelex will more than double its workforce, which currently stands at 400. Those staff had previously worked in the supermarket’s bureaux, and are being transferred over under the five-year agreement. [...]
Cenkos soars after update June 23, 2014 BROKING firm Cenkos will see profits soar this year, it said yesterday, in part thanks to landing the top role on the lucrative AA flotation. As sole co-ordinator and bookrunner on the AA deal, it can expect to earn £30m on the sale. The small- and mid-cap specialist gave a trading update indicating revenues and profits [...]
Euro official warns powers to halt bubbles may be too weak June 23, 2014 POWERS to control banks and stop bubbles wrecking the economy may be too slow or too weak to work, top European Central Bank official Vitor Constancio warned yesterday. Regulators including the Bank of England and the ECB hope to use macroprudential policies to manage the economy, rather than relying on the interest rates alone. They hope [...]
Tight mortgage rules slow down lending growth June 23, 2014 TOUGH new affordability checks have knocked mortgage lending, Bank of England data showed yesterday. Lending is still growing, but at a slightly slower pace after the mortgage market review (MMR) rules came into force in April. The number of banks reporting rising demand for prime mortgages outweighed those reporting a fall by a margin of 27.5 [...]
Savers put cash into ISAs despite low rate June 23, 2014 HARD-PRESSED savers are continuing to put their cash on deposit at banks, despite falls in interest rates, Bank of England figures showed yesterday. The change in the ISA rules is behind the change, the Bank believes, with savers able to put up to £15,000 in the tax-free accounts, across cash and the stocks and shares [...]
BNP near $8bn bill for breaking US sanctions June 23, 2014 FRENCH bank BNP Paribas is understood to be close to a settlement with American regulators over allegations it broke sanctions against countries including Iran and Sudan. The bill is now expected to come in at more than $8bn (£4.7bn), less than the $10bn recently feared but still far in excess of the $1.1bn the bank had [...]
Banks want easier capital rules to let challengers compete fully June 23, 2014 UNFAIR capital rules are stopping challenger banks competing with big lenders by forcing them to hold bigger buffers against the same loans, the British Bankers’ Association said today. The biggest banks can hold less capital than smaller lenders against the same debts, because they have enough data to prove to regulators exactly how safe the [...]