A roundup of today's other business news in brief
Ulster Bank credit rating downgrade
Ulster Bank had its credit rating downgraded amid concerns about rising bad loans and the potential increased need for additional capital from its parent bank, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
The bank expects €24 billion of assets to be covered by the UK’s asset protection scheme. Removal of bad loans will reduce risky assets and support “capitalisation”, said Fitch.
Fitch said it expected Ulster Bank’s bad loan charges to continue to deteriorate for the rest of this year and next, in light of rising unemployment.
€101m profits for Irish CR Bard arm
The Irish subsidiary of US-owned healthcare manufacturer, CR Bard, last year increased its pretax profits by 31 per cent to $147 million (€101 million), writes Gordon Deegan.
Accounts filed with the Companies Office show Bard Shannon Ltd last year saw turnover rise 20 per cent to $694 million.
Turnover at the group’s Irish unit represented 28 per cent of the corporation’s global sales last year.
Operating profit at the Irish business increased by 34 per cent to $144 million last year.
Bank moves over €12.9m held by Madoff
An Italian bank has commenced Commercial Court proceedings against an Irish-based investment firm and an arm of HSBC over a €12.9 million investment that ended up held by a firm run by fraudster Bernard Madoff.
The bank claims the money it invested in Ireland had been supposed to be managed by an Austrian entity.
UBI Banca has moved against Thema International Fund and HSBC Institutional Trust Services Ireland. The action was admitted to the Commercial Court yesterday by Mr Justice Brian McGovern, who adjourned to next month.
Bankers’ pay row ‘understandable’
Chief executive of Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein yesterday admitted that the outcry over bankers’ pay was “understandable”.
“The industry let the growth and complexity in new instruments outstrip their economic and social utility as well as the operational capacity to manage them.” – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009)
