London Report: FTSE dips after HSBC’s profits miss forecasts August 5, 2013 BRITAIN’S benchmark equity index fell yesterday, pulled down by HSBC after the heavyweight bank’s interim profits missed forecasts, giving HSBC shares their worst day in well over a year. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down 0.4 per cent, or 28.29 points, at 6,619.58 points. The decline marked its second consecutive fall after a four-day [...]
China reviewing one child policy amid demographic timebomb and slowing growth August 5, 2013 China’s Family Planning Commission is studying proposals to lift the ban on a second child – if either parent is an only child. The country’s official news agency Xinhua reported that the new rules are expected to come into force early next year and may be extended to cover all families by 2015. Under current [...]
HSBC warns against EU bonus cap as shares fall on disappointing profits August 5, 2013 HSBC has reported pre-tax profits of $14.071bn (£9.2bn) for the first six months of the year, up ten per cent from the same period in 2012, but falling short of analysts' expectations of a 15 per cent increase. Earnings per share rose by a fifth to 54 cents. Shares fell nearly four per cent on [...]
London Report: Carney’s first inflation report in the spotlight August 4, 2013 NEW Bank of England governor Mark Carney will take centre stage this week as he announces the latest Quarterly Inflation Report, plus plans to adopt forward guidance on interest rates for the first time. Forward guidance would give the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) a third method of influencing the economy, alongside interest rates and [...]
HSBC shakes up auditors for first time in over two decades replacing KPMG with PwC August 2, 2013 HSBC has announced that it will be switching its current auditor KPMG for PricewaterhouseCoopers for the year ended 31 December 2015 (release). The change will be recommended to shareholders at HSBC's 2015 AGM. KPMG will continue to undertake the audit of the bank's consolidated accounts for the year ended 31 December 2013, and subject to [...]
Senior Asia economist explains unexpected swing in Chinese manufacturing August 1, 2013 Capital Economics’ chief Asia economist Mark Williams has warned against reading too much into the unexpected swing in the official Chinese manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) released last night. The PMI data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (NBS) rose from 50.1 to 50.3 – analysts had expected a fall to 49.8 [...]
Lloyds share price passes break even point for taxpayer as bank reports swing to profit August 1, 2013 Share prices in Lloyds Banking Group have surpassed what the City regards as the "real" break even point for the taxpayer as the group reports a swing to profit in the first half of the year. This morning, the Lloyds share price passed the 73.6p "real" break-even point, which represents the average price at which [...]
Before the open – 01/08 August 1, 2013 Asian shares were up last night on the back of unexpected good manufacturing data from July. The NBS purchasing managers’ index came in at 50.3 – up from 50.1 the month before and above expectations of 49.8 (above 50 indicates growth, below contraction). HSBC’s measure of manufacturing PMI, however, said the industry shrank, coming in [...]
CPP secures £36m lifeline deal July 31, 2013 York-based credit card insurer CPP, which sells card protection on behalf of major lenders such as HSBC, yesterday agreed a new refinancing package which will secure its future. CPP, which was fined £10.5m by the Financial Services Authority last year for “widespread” mis-selling, has secured a £13m credit facility from its lenders, expiring in July [...]
City Moves for 1 August 2013 | Who’s switching jobs July 31, 2013 Premier Farnell The electronics company has announced the appointment of Andrea Dunstan as chief people officer. Dunstan has over 20 years’ experience in human resources (HR). She was previously group HR director at Wincanton. Prior to that, she worked at AstraZeneca. Royal Bank of Canada The bank’s capital markets division has recruited Sian Hurrell as head [...]