WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 28, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LLOYDS SET TO EASE PRESSURE ON CHIEF Lloyds Banking Group is exploring ways to reduce the workload on António Horta-Osório, its chief executive, as it attempts to convince investors he will be able to make a successful comeback from a period of medical leave. The state-backed bank is considering fortifying the support around [...]
MEGA-BRAND ADDS BANKING TO ITS WIDE RANGING INTERESTS November 17, 2011 VIRGIN MONEY With the purchase of 74 Northern Rock branches, the Virgin Money brand has just got a whole lot bigger. It already has a banking licence, having purchased Church House Trust, a tiny bank, in January 2010. It offers credit cards in conjunction with MBNA; mortgages in a joint venture with RBS-backed The One [...]
Earnings rise at insurer CPP despite FSA probe August 23, 2011 IDENTITY protection provider CPP Group said its first-half profits had jumped by a third yesterday but warned that a probe into its selling practices had hurt its business. York-based CPP, which also insures credit cards, said it made £23.1m pre-tax profit on revenues of £172.1m in the first half, but said its performance had been [...]
Earnings rise at insurer CPP despite FSA probe August 23, 2011 IDENTITY protection provider CPP Group said its first-half profits had jumped by a third yesterday but warned that a probe into its selling practices had hurt its business. York-based CPP, which also insures credit cards, said it made £23.1m pre-tax profit on revenues of £172.1m in the first half, but said its performance had been [...]
LOOKING FOR SIGNS OF HOPE October 16, 2011 THE Eurozone is in dire need of a quick capital injection, perhaps €2 trillion, says economist Nouriel Roubini. Roubini is not the only economist alarmed by the Eurozone’s banking system. Even outgoing ECB head Jean-Claude Trichet said recently that the systemic crisis must be decisively tackled, as the interconnectedness threatens the Eurozone’s financial stability, and [...]
UK told to cut taxes on pay and business October 12, 2011 RADICAL changes to the tax system are needed to kick-start business activity and counter unemployment in the absence of strong UK economic growth, two think-tanks have argued. Taxes on employment could be cut by £14bn to create jobs and raise economic growth because current low growth levels threaten the government’s deficit-cutting target, the Centre for [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 12, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES UNICREDIT CHIEF SIGNALS RIGHTS ISSUE TO INCREASE CAPITAL LEVELS UniCredit has given its clearest signal yet that it will seek to raise its capital buffers as market turmoil continues to hit European bank shares. In his first big interview since becoming chief a year ago Federico Ghizzoni told the Financial Times that details [...]
Shock of Greek referendum sends financial stocks down November 1, 2011 FINANCIAL stocks led Britain’s FTSE 100 sharply lower yesterday, after the Greek Prime Minister’s call for a referendum on the bailout package agreed last week sent shockwaves through markets and heightened tensions over debt contagion. London’s blue chips fell 122.65 points or 2.2 per cent to 5,421.57, echoing similar falls across the globe as investors [...]
Crisis across the Eurozone is just getting started October 4, 2011 LOOKING at the chaos in the markets and the Eurozone yesterday, it would be tempting to claim that the sovereign debt crisis is nearing its endgame. But that would be the wrong call to make. The crisis is intensifying, obviously, but political incompetence in the European Union, as well as its faulty political institutions, means [...]
HMV shares plunge as insurers reduce cover January 19, 2011 Credit insurers have reduced the cover they are prepared to give to suppliers of HMV Group following a profit warning from the music, books, DVDs and games retailer, hammering its shares. The withdrawal of credit insurance was a major blow to retailers like variety chain Woolworths and music retailer Zavvi as they tried, and failed, [...]