Sberbank sees profits soar as bad loans drop April 15, 2010 SBERBANK, Russia’s biggest lender, said yesterday that quarterly net profit jumped to 43.2bn roubles (£1bn), from 0.3bn roubles a year ago. The significant improvement was a result of a sharp reduction in provision charges for bad loans, the company added. State-controlled Sberbank, which holds roughly a quarter of Russia’s total banking assets, hopes to earn [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF May 6, 2010 Tiger back on form at Sawgrass GOLF: Tiger Woods made a welcome return to form as he closed in on the leaders in the Players’ Championship at Sawgrass. Woods, who missed the cut in the Quail Hollow Championship last week, was just three shots behind clubhouse leaders JB Holmes and Robert Allenby on three-under-par as he [...]
FOREX FLASH March 16, 2010 ROUBLE COULD STRENGTHEN 20 PER CENT The Russian rouble could strengthen by as much as 18 to 20 per cent over the next three years, the Russian deputy economy minister Andrei Klepach said yesterday. Klepach warned that this appreciation would hurt manufacturers and limit economic growth. He added: “We are not ready to move to [...]
BoNY nears Russian deal September 14, 2009 THE RUSSIAN government is set to bring its $22.5bn (£13.6bn) lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon (BoNY) to an end after the bank agreed to provide credit to Moscow-based banks, sources told City A.M last night. An out-of-court settlement is being discussed that will see the USbanking giant restart trade-finance lending to banks nominated [...]
Growing calls for Cameron to support BP June 10, 2010 THERE were growing calls for David Cameron to throw his weight behind troubled oil major BP last night, but the Prime Minister appeared to side with the American government. London mayor Boris Johnson broke ranks to hit out at “the anti British rhetoric… permeating from America” and said the matter was of “great concern” because [...]
Lebedev buys Independent for £1 March 25, 2010 THE Independent and Independent on Sunday newspapers have been sold to Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev. Oligarch Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard, bought the loss-making papers from Irish company Independent News & Media (INM) for £1. As part of the deal, INM agreed to pay Lebedev’s Independent Print Limited (IPL) £9.25m over the next ten [...]
OUT OF OFFICE April 12, 2010 AT THE BRIDEWELL: WHIPPING IT UP As election fever takes hold, the Tower Theatre Company is reviving Steve Thompson’s rip-roaring dissection of Westminster double dealing and dirty tricks. Set just after a general election that’s returned the Tories to power with a tiny majority, the play is rife with rebellious backbenchers, backstabbing Chief Whips and [...]
OFT paves way for Indie sale March 17, 2010 THE Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has paved the way for ex-KGB man Alexander Lebedev to buy the Independent, after ruling it would not launch an investigation over competition issues. Lebedev recently bought a 75 per cent stake in the London Evening Standard. The OFT had until 26 April to decide whether to investigate but [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 3, 2010 Financial times TNK-BP STEP UP SALE OF GAS FIELD TNK-BP, BP’s Russian joint oil venture, ratcheted up the pressure for a sale of its vast Kovykta gas field on Thursday, announcing that it was pushing the unit that owns the licence to the field into bankruptcy. The move raises the stakes over the future of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 3, 2010 Financial times TNK-BP STEP UP SALE OF GAS FIELD TNK-BP, BP’s Russian joint oil venture, ratcheted up the pressure for a sale of its vast Kovykta gas field on Thursday, announcing that it was pushing the unit that owns the licence to the field into bankruptcy. The move raises the stakes over the future of [...]