Category Archive: News
JPMorgan Q1 profits up 67%
JPMorgan Chase, the second largest bank by assets in the US, beat forecasts from Wall Street analysts by reporting a 67 percent rise in Q1 profits, bringing figures to $5.56bn compared with $3.33bn in the same period last year. The jump in results was attributed to an increased performance from the credit card group and […]
COO of Renault to step down over espionage claim
The COO of Renault, Patrick Pélata, resigned on Tuesday following an internal and external audit which showed ‘a chain of failures’ in the manner the car manufacturer handled a scandal which alleged industrial espionage by its employees and led to three unjust dismissals. The audit especially blamed ‘the supervision and control of activities of management […]
UK and Dutch to sue Iceland for Icesave money
The Netherlands and Britain are planning to take Iceland to court for refusing to repay money paid to Icesave depositors following the collapse of the country’s banking system in 2008, said chief secretary of the treasury, Danny Alexander. Icelandic voters have rejected the government backed deal to pay back to Britain and the Netherlands $5.8bn […]
Precious metals reach record high in 31 years
Gold futures traded at a new record high on Friday and silver hit $40.04 an ounce for the first time since 1980 as concerns about the dollar weakening draws investors towards precious metals. Gold for June delivery was up $8.60 and hit a trading high of $1.468.30 SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed ETF […]
Portugal asks for EU bailout
Portugal’s caretaker government under José Sócrates last night requested an EU bailout, making Portugal the third EU member, after Ireland and Greece, to seek financial assistance. The move comes after the country’s long term government bond rating was downgraded by Moody’s on Tuesday by a notch from A3 to BAA1 and the credit agency said Portugal […]
Commerzbank to repay 14.3bn euro aid by June
Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest lender said on Wednesday it plans to repay 14.3bn euro in state aid by June through the sale of new shares and the use of excess capital. The bank said it is to pay back €14.3bn of the €16.2bn in “silent participation”, a type of non-voting capital received by the German government […]
Portugal moves closer to bailout
Portugal’s long term government bond rating has been downgraded by Moody’s by a notch from A3 to BAA1, the credit agency said. Moody’s cautioned that it expects Portugal to have to look for external help to resolve its debt crisis. In a statement the agency said: “The limited migration of the rating to BAA1 in today’s […]
Vodafone to earn €7.95bn from SFR sale
Vodafone shares opened 2 percent higher this morning after the company announced it has agreed to sell its entire 44 percent stake in French mobile phone group SFR to Vivendi for a cash consideration of €7.75bn. The agreement includes a final dividend worth €200 which Vodafone will receive on completion of the transaction. In addition, […]
Xstrata agrees record coal price with Japan
Xstrata, one of the world’s biggest coal exporters, has come to an agreement from today to sell Australian thermal coal to Hiroshima-based Chucogu Electric Power for one year at $129.80 a tonne it was announced. The new benchmark price contracted per tonne, which is around 30 percent up from the previous year, is an all […]
Japan still stationary
Japan’s manufacturing activity dropped to a two-year low in March and posted its sharpest decline since records began in October 2001, a survey showed today. The disruption of production operation and supply chains caused by the earthquake and tsunami devastation caused the index of purchasing managers to fall to 46.4 from 52.9 in February, according […]
