Shinsei Bank reveals drop in quarterly profits
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Shinsei Bank reveals drop in quarterly profits
Shinsei Bank has announced its financial results for the quarter ended 30 June 2009.
The firm made a net quarterly income of 9.7bn yen (consolidated cash basis), down from 13.4bn yen in the same quarter of 2008.
Revenues rose sharply by 43.4% to 87.5bn, and total deposits are nearing the 7 trillion yen mark.
Masamoto Yashiro, chief executive [...]
KCB records 4% rise in pretax profits
by Richard Kilner
Story link: KCB records 4% rise in pretax profits
Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has revealed its financial performance for the first half of 2009.
Pretax profits rose slightly, up 4% to KSh3.64bn, but operating profit surged by 29%.
The pretax profit growth is very similar to the Q1 rise of 5% to KShs.1.73bn, due to a slowing of momentum during the first quarter.
Operating income rose by [...]
FSA rapped over Dunfermline failures
by Gill Montia
Story link: FSA rapped over Dunfermline failures
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been called to account over its dealings with Dunfermline Building Society.
Scotland’s largest building society came close to collapse in March, when Nationwide acquired certain of its assets.
At the time, part of the lender’s mortgage book, deposits of around £2 billion and 34 branches were transferred using new powers under [...]
New Zealand keeps rates at 2.5%
by Richard Kilner
Story link: New Zealand keeps rates at 2.5%
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has elected to leave interest rates unchanged with the Official Cash Rate (OCR) remaining at 2.5%.
A patchy, gradual recovery is forecast by the bank’s governor, Alan Bollard, who described the economy as weak despite the decline beginning to level off.
Bollard went on to say that healthy growth is some [...]
Lazard record Q2 profits
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Lazard record Q2 profits
Lazard Ltd (NYSE: LAZ) has announced its Q2 and half-year financial results, including a Q2 net income of $43.1m, equating to $0.34 per share.
This is about two-thirds the $64.6m net profit delivered in Q2 2008, but does mark a significant improvement from the firm’s Q1 performance, when it incurred a net loss of $29.7m.
For the [...]
Thomas Weisel announces Q2 losses
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Thomas Weisel announces Q2 losses
Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TWPG) has released its financial results for Q2 2009.
The firm made a net loss of $10.2m, $0.31 per share, with net revenues totalling $48.3m.
This is approximately level with its performance during the same quarter last year when the firm incurred net losses of $10.1m, although revenue was higher at [...]
OFT to encourage new UK banks
by Gill Montia
Story link: OFT to encourage new UK banks
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published a financial services plan setting out its approach to the sector in the short and medium term.
The work pledges that “as public decisions are made to deal with the current financial crisis, they do not harm competition over the long term and thus reduce the future [...]
Building Societies report record withdrawals
by Gill Montia
Story link: Building Societies report record withdrawals
The Building Societies Association (BSA) has reported that its members saw net withdrawals of a record £2,239 million in June, compared to net inflows of £419 million during the same period of 2008.
While gross mortgage lending was up 30% on a month earlier, at £1,976 million, the figure had plummeted from £3,254 million in June [...]
Bank of Scotland charges customers twice
by Gill Montia
Story link: Bank of Scotland charges customers twice
Some Bank of Scotland customers have been charged twice for items paid for using chip and PIN cards.
According to a BBC report, technical problems with the bank’s electronic point of sale system were to blame and any amounts overcharged should be back in their rightful accounts today.
However, shopkeepers have had to deal with angry consumers [...]
Nomura announce return to profitability
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Nomura announce return to profitability
Nomura Holdings, Inc. has announced its financial results for the most recent quarter.
Net revenue for the quarter (Q1 under the firm’s method) skyrocketed by 121% from Q1 2008 to reach 198.4bn yen.
Pre-tax profits were recorded at 31.4bn yen, with net income standing at 11.4bn yen.
The most recent quarter therefore marks the first time Nomura has [...]
Santander announces €4.52bn profits
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Santander announces €4.52bn profits
Spanish banking giant Banco Santander has announced it recorded half-yearly net attributable profits of €4.52bn, a decline of 4% compared to the same period last year.
However, it is 9% higher than the profits for the second half of 2008.
Half of the profit was delivered by Continental Europe, with the UK contributing 16%.
Net attributable profit in [...]
UKFI sees changes at the top
by Gill Montia
Story link: UKFI sees changes at the top
The chief executive of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the body set up to manage taxpayers’ interests in rescued banks, has announced his resignation.
John Kingman, a former Treasury official, will stand down once a new chief executive has been appointed; he is understood to be refocusing his career in the private sector.
In addition, Sir David Cooksey [...]
HMRC grants amnesty to offshore account holders
by Gill Montia
Story link: HMRC grants amnesty to offshore account holders
Britons with offshore savings accounts are being given another opportunity to come clean with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
The Revenue has announced the launch of a second amnesty that allows savers to settle up any outstanding tax on interest, plus a penalty of 10%, if they come forward between September 2009 and March of 2010.
The [...]
Northern Rock shareholders lose appeal
by Gill Montia
Story link: Northern Rock shareholders lose appeal
Former shareholders of the nationalised Northern Rock have lost the latest round of their battle to gain a higher level of compensation from the Government.
Northern Rock came close to collapse in 2007, when its reckless lending policies and dependence on money market capital led to a run on the bank.
The shareholders’ case hinges on [...]
Deutsche Bank announces quarterly profits
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Deutsche Bank announces quarterly profits
Deutsche Bank has announced its financial results for Q2 2009, and for the first half of the year.
Net income soared by 67% for Q2, up to €1.1bn from €645m in 2008, with diluted earnings per share up from €1.27 to €1.64.
However, net income was very slightly down on the Q1 2009 level of €1.2bn.
There was [...]
Sir Win Bischoff to chair Lloyds Banking Group
by Gill Montia
Story link: Sir Win Bischoff to chair Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Banking Group has announced the appointment of Sir Win Bischoff as chairman.
Sir Win will take up the role in September, replacing Sir Victor Blank who announced in March that he would step down before the group’s next annual general meeting.
Sir Victor had come under attack from shareholders over the disastrous merger of Lloyds TSB [...]
Dubai Islamic Bank record increasing profits
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Dubai Islamic Bank record increasing profits
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has announced it results for the first six months of 2009, during which time it has displayed its capacity to remain in the black despite a challenging global banking environment.
In Q2 profits rose by 22% to hit AED 450m, which stood at AED 370m in the first quarter of the year.
To [...]
RBS courts SMEs with press campaign
by Gill Montia
Story link: RBS courts SMEs with press campaign
This week will see the launch of a Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) press campaign aimed at small business customers.
The 70% state-owned bank wants to reach out to SMEs who are struggling to secure finance.
In the process of accepting government support, RBS agreed to make an extra £16 billion of lending available in [...]
NatWest three due for release
by Gill Montia
Story link: NatWest three due for release
The “NatWest three” who are currently serving prison sentences in the UK, are due for release in October, the Guardian has reported.
In February 2008, the former bankers were convicted of fraud in the US in connection with the collapse of Enron.
The Houston-based energy group filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2001, with the loss of [...]
Fall in corporate insolvencies unlikely to be sustained
by Gill Montia
Story link: Fall in corporate insolvencies unlikely to be sustained
The second quarter of 2009 saw a slight drop in the number of corporate insolvencies in England and Wales.
In the three months to the end of June, 4,814 companies became insolvent, an 11.3% decrease on the previous quarter and a 43.2% rise on the same period of 2008.
The decline takes the total number of [...]
