The Spanish government is to force its banks to take on an extra 30bn euros ($39bn; £24bn) of capital to cushion themselves against loans going bad. The banks will have to raise the money or borrow from the government at an annual interest rate of about 10%. The government said it was determined to take [...]
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HSBC is selling businesses in four South American countries as it continues a strategy of leaving less promising markets. Colombia’s Banco GNB Sudameris is paying $400m for the HSBC units in Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay. Combined the businesses have 62 branches across the four countries and assets worth $4.4bn. HSBC has announced 11 deals [...]
India’s SKS Microfinance has said it will cut 1,200 jobs and close 78 branches in the state of Andhra Pradesh amid mounting losses. Its business has been hit after the state introduced strict rules two years ago to curb alleged harassment of clients by microlenders. The firm said it had written off 11.2bn rupees ($210m; [...]
Coty is the company behind celebrity perfumes including Beyonce Knowles’ Pulse Fragrance firm Coty has raised its offer for US beauty firm Avon Products to $10.7bn (£6.6bn) and secured the backing of Warren Buffett. Coty, a New York-based firm that produces perfumes for celebrities, said it was “disappointed” after Avon refused to discuss the offer. [...]
JPMorgan Chase, the biggest US bank, has revealed a surprise trading loss of $2bn (£1.2bn) on complex investments made by its traders. Overall, after accounting for other gains, losses at its chief investment office (CIO) are estimated to come in at $800m in the second quarter. The loss could be as big as $1bn, chief [...]
Microsoft has pledged to help protect the environment by reducing its carbon footprint. From July 1st 2012 its data centres, software development labs and office buildings would all be carbon neutral, the firm announced. Environmental groups have called on the technology industry to adopt more renewable energy sources. Rivals Facebook and Google have pledged to [...]
Asian markets have dropped on fears that the eurozone may rein in austerity measures that many see as key to solving the region’s debt crisis. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 2.7%, South Korea’s Kospi shed 1.8% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.4%. On Sunday, many French and Greek voters backed politicians opposed to current [...]
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has lowered its growth forecast amid a slowdown in the country’s non-mining sectors. The central bank cut its growth forecast for 2012 to 3% from its earlier projection of 3.5%. The move comes just days after the RBA cut rates to 3.75% in a surprise move to boost growth. [...]
French bank BNP Paribas has seen first quarter net profit fall by 22% to 2.03bn euros ($2.7bn; £1.6bn). It came during what the bank said was “economic slowdown in the eurozone”. But net profit after exceptional items rose 9.6% to 2.86bn euros, boosted by the sale of a 29% stake in investment fund Klepierre for [...]
Airline group Air France-KLM has reported a loss for the first three months of the year, following higher fuel costs and a drop in cargo traffic. Its first-quarter net loss was 368m euros ($483m;£299m), almost the same as a year before, although revenue rose 6% to 5.6bn euros. Higher workforce costs because of a 2011 [...]
Business-focused social networking website LinkedIn said its quarterly profits more than doubled sending its shares up 10%. The figures showed first quarter revenue 101% higher than a year ago at $188.5m (£116.5m), with net income also more than doubling from $2.1m to $5m. Linkedin said it was the seventh quarter in a row of growth [...]
The phone offers up to 64GB of internal memory and an SD slot to add more Samsung has unveiled its latest flagship smartphone – the Galaxy S3. The handset has a 4.8 inch (12.2cm) screen, an increase on the 4.3 inch screen of its predecessor. The device is perceived to be critical to how people [...]
Facebook has set the share price for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) at between $28 and $35 per share, valuing the company at between $85bn-$95bn (£52bn-£59bn). The IPO is set to be the largest ever for an internet firm, bigger than Google’s valuation of $23bn in 2004. IPOs are when companies list shares on [...]
Singapore’s Temasek Holdings is seeking to sell $2.4bn (£1.5bn) worth of its shares in Bank of China and China Construction Bank, two of China’s biggest lenders. The move comes as shares of the two banks have risen almost 14% this year. However, profit growth at Chinese lenders has slowed recently amid tight controls on lending [...]
AirAsia and Malaysian Airline System (MAS) have scrapped their proposed share swap deal amid pressure from the workers’ union at MAS. The deal was expected to reduce competition and help MAS, the national carrier, return to profitability. However, it had proven unpopular with the union amid concerns that the tie-up may lead to restructuring and [...]
