A sharp decline in bad loan charges and one-off gains on the sale of UK government bond holdings helped Lloyds Banking Group post a £2bn pre-tax profit for the first quarter of 2013, up from £280m a year earlier, reports the Financial Times.
The trading statement released on Tuesday was also helped by the absence of any fresh charges related to the mis-selling of payment protection insurance, an industry-wide scandal that has already caused the bank to set aside £6.8bn.
Spanish recession continues
As feared, Spain’s economy has contracted by 0.5 per cent for the seventh quarter in a row, reports The Guardian.
Data just released confirmed analyst forecasts, with Spanish GDP now 2 per cent smaller than a year ago as the country’s austerity programme - and the wider eurozone recession - continue to bite.
BP profits triple to £10.7bn on Russian deal as new production helps beat expectations
BP profits more than tripled to $16.6bn (£10.7bn) in the first three months of 2013 as the oil giant received $12.4bn from Kremlin-controlled Rosneft for its stake in TNK-BP, reports The Daily Telegraph.
Excluding the one-off boost from the Russian mega-deal, which completed at the end of March, BP reported underlying profits of $4.2bn, down 9 per cent from $4.7bn in the same period of 2012, as the company sold off assets to pay for the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
Strong pound should be weakened to ‘unleash’ British manufacturing boom and kick-start economy, according to Civitas
The pound is far too strong and should be weakened to ‘unleash’ a British manufacturing boom and kick-start the stuttering economy, according to a leading think-tank, reports the Daily Mail.
A report published today by Civitas suggests sterling should be devalued by approximately a third – pushing it down to $1.05 against the dollar and €0.80 against the euro.
The author, entrepreneur and economist John Mills argues that a weaker pound would make British exports much more competitive and help eliminate the country’s ‘huge’ trade deficit.
Great tax race: Luxembourg set to share companies’ bank details
Luxembourg is ready to share currently confidential information about multinationals’ bank accounts as part of efforts to shed the Grand Duchy’s image as a leading tax haven, reports the Financial Times.
Under pressure amid a renewed global crackdown on tax evasion and avoidance, Luc Frieden, finance minister, said Luxembourg was willing to expand the number of accounts covered by new information-sharing agreements with the US and the EU to include global companies. The accords, agreed this month, currently only cover individual taxpayers.
Deutsche Bank bites bullet on stock
Deutshe Bank AG, in a reversal, said it would raise €2.8bn ($3.65bn) in fresh capital, giving in to months of pressure from investors and regulators to improve its capital base, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The bank, Europe’s second largest by assets, has long faced doubts from investors and analysts about whether it has enough capital to absorb potential future losses and to meet increasingly stringent regulatory requirements. On paper, Deutsche Bank had one of the thinnest capital ratios among large European banks.
