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Published: February 14 2011 22:46 | Last updated: February 15 2011 00:01
General Electric and a joint venture partner are looking to sell their GE SeaCo container-leasing business for about $2.5bn, as the conglomerate continues to reshuffle its portfolio and the pair try to capitalise on the hot market for companies in the sector. (more…)
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Published: February 9 2011 23:24 | Last updated: February 9 2011 23:24
The Pentagon will not support mergers between the largest US defense contractors and will carefully examine any divestments that create “weaker standalone” companies, as the industry adjusts to a new era of flat spending, according to the top procurement official. (more…)
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Published: February 14 2011 13:38 | Last updated: February 14 2011 13:38
One in four Royal Air Force trainee pilots are to be sacked before completing their courses as the armed forces seek to meet their stringent savings targets from the defence review. (more…)
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Published: January 27 2011 18:54 | Last updated: January 27 2011 18:54
Robert Gates, US defence secretary, has warned he faces a “crisis” over Pentagon funding this year that threatens to “hollow out” the military. (more…)
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Published: February 8 2011 00:35 | Last updated: February 8 2011 00:35
Manufacturing jobs are being threatened and the defence industry disrupted by Congress’s failure to pass a comprehensive defence spending bill, senior executives have warned. (more…)
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Published: February 10 2011 22:38 | Last updated: February 10 2011 22:38
Europe has moved to loosen import restrictions on important agricultural commodities in response to tightening domestic markets and skyrocketing prices. (more…)
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Published: February 16 2011 14:47 | Last updated: February 16 2011 19:47
Demonstrators continued to chant slogans calling for the end of the regime in Bahrain as the largest Shia party weighed in demanding a new constitution and an end to absolute monarchy. (more…)
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By Samantha Pearson in Sao Paulo
Published: February 16 2011 23:10 | Last updated: February 16 2011 23:10
PanAmericano, the Brazilian bank which has come close to collapse due to a combination of high default rates on car loans and alleged fraud, revealed that its losses were almost double previous estimates at R$4.3bn. (more…)
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Published: December 22 2010 19:05 | Last updated: December 22 2010 19:05
When David Cameron, the British prime minister, launched a sneak attack on the 2011 European Union budget at a summit of heads of government in October, the Poles were caught off guard. As the biggest net recipient of EU funds – taking in €6.5bn more than it paid out last year – Poland has the most to lose from any effort to curtail EU spending. (more…)
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By Jan Cienski in Warsaw
Published: January 3 2011 23:13 | Last updated: January 3 2011 23:13
When Padraic Coll began looking for investors interested in putting money into Poland a decade ago, he had a ready audience among Irish farmers who had seen their own property values balloon and wanted to get in on the ground floor of another economic success story. (more…)
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By Peter Wise in Lisbon
Published: February 16 2011 17:41 | Last updated: February 16 2011 17:41
Portugal welcomed a negligible response to its offer to buy back up to €9.4bn in government bonds on Wednesday as a sign of investor confidence amid growing fears that the country will be forced to seek a financial rescue. (more…)
02
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By Philip Stafford
Published: February 15 2011 12:15 | Last updated: February 15 2011 12:15
LCH.Clearnet has appointed Ian Axe from Barclays Capital as its chief executive as the Anglo-French clearing house group looks to grab a slice of the fast-emerging post-trade services market. (more…)
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By Sarah Mishkin
Published: February 15 2011 14:16 | Last updated: February 15 2011 14:16
Bullishness on global equities has hit its highest level in at least a decade, according to a closely watched survey, with investors hopeful of strong economic growth despite the risk of rising inflation. (more…)
02
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Published: February 17 2011 08:52 | Last updated: February 17 2011 08:52
Axa, Europe’s second-biggest insurer, announced on Thursday that its 2010 profit dropped 24 per cent due to a loss on the sale of most of its UK life business to Resolution. (more…)
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By Paul J Davies, Insurance Correspondent
Published: February 16 2011 22:33 | Last updated: February 16 2011 22:33
Whatever you think of the performance of Resolution so far, Clive Cowdery’s life assurance consolidation vehicle has had an impact on the big listed life companies. (more…)
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By Lindsay Whipp in Tokyo
Published: February 15 2011 10:11 | Last updated: February 15 2011 10:11
JPMorgan issued Y111bn ($1.33) of samurai bonds on Tuesday, making it the first US financial institution to do so since the collapse of Lehman Brothers and paving the way for its rivals to raise funds in Japan. (more…)
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By Peter Wise in Lisbon
Published: February 15 2011 13:28 | Last updated: February 15 2011 13:28
Portugal has criticised the European Union for delays in making the eurozone’s €440bn financial rescue fund more flexible as the country’s borrowing costs reached new euro-era highs. (more…)
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By Richard Milne and Peter Garnham
Published: February 15 2011 18:19 | Last updated: February 15 2011 18:19
Risk-on, risk-off: four words that caused big headaches for many investors and traders last year.
The idea that a broad range of assets from equities and commodities to currencies and bonds moved in lockstep with each other – either in the same or the opposite direction – dominated the investment landscape in 2010. Investors adapted to these almost predictable patterns behaving like herds of wildebeest. (more…)
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By Peter Garnham
Published: February 14 2011 11:37 | Last updated: February 14 2011 22:23
The euro dropped to a three-week low against the dollar on Monday as fears over the ability of eurozone policymakers to solve the region’s debt crisis heightened. (more…)
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By Andrew Ward in Stockholm
Published: February 15 2011 15:23 | Last updated: February 15 2011 15:23
Sweden’s central bank has raised interest rates again and signalled further rises ahead in a bid to prevent overheating in western Europe’s fastest-growing economy. (more…)