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’Welcome to the sub-marine crisis
On Thursday, AP Moller Maersk — the world’s top container shipping company — spooked shipping industry watchers when it reported deeper than expected losses of $706m for the nine months to September,
Lloyds, RBS and state aid
The UK’s two part-nationalised banks, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS, are under pressure again on Wednesday morning as the market continues to fret about potential state aid remedies.
Since ING, the Dutch financial services group,
RHJ to buy Kleinwort for £225m
Kleinwort Benson, one of the oldest names in British banking, is to be sold by Commerzbank to RHJ International, a Brussels-listed financial investor, for £225m in cash. The deal caps a long search by RHJ for a European banking business and reunites its CEO Leonhard Fischer with part of Dresdner Bank,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Xstrata says it has no intention of making an offer for Anglo American – statement.
- Anheuser-Busch InBev agrees to sell central European operations to CVC for $2.2bn – statement.
Good news for banks, IAS 39 edition
Remember the International Accounting Standards Board’s proposed revisions to IAS 39?
The organisation wants to update the accounting standard, which sets out how banks and other companies should value and categorise their financial instruments.
CDS report: Tepid US opening dents sentiment in Europe
Markit’s Gavan Nolan wrote this CDS report
European credit indices continued to tighten on Tuesday, though they lost some ground after a tepid US opening. The Markit iTraxx Europe index was trading around 85.5bp,
Bankers sue for bonuses
Seventy-two City bankers are suing Dresdner Kleinwort and Commerzbank for €33m ($47.8m) worth of unpaid bonuses in the biggest case of its kind in the UK. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in the High Court,
Commerzbank ‘back on growth path’
Commerzbank could return to profit next year and is integrating Dresdner Bank more quickly than expected after last year’s troubled takeover, its chief executive has said. Defying concern about the health of Germany’s second largest bank,
Close Brothers moves in on Kleinwort
Close Brothers, the UK-based investment bank, has emerged as a bidder for Kleinwort Benson, the private bank that has been put up for sale by Germany’s Commerzbank. Close Brothers is understood to be among the potential buyers to reach the second round of the auction process.
Dresdner/Commerzbank blames oil speculators
Wow, the commods analysts at Dresdner/Commerzbank have taken a rather bold — if slightly self-congratulatory — stand on oil speculators.
In a note published on Thursday, analysts Eugen Weinberg, Barbara Lambrecht and Carsten Fritsch,
Rising risk provisions hit Commerzbank
Commerzbank on Thursday raised its risk provisions as Germany’s second largest bank was hit in the second quarter by problems in property markets and turmoil in eastern Europe. But Commerzbank, which continues to struggle after its takeover of Dresdner Bank,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Commerzbank posts $1.1bn loss on higher loan provisions – statement.
- ITV confirms sale of Friends Reunited, reports half-year results – statement, statement.
Commerzbank sells Dresdner unit to LGT
Commerzbank is to sell Dresdner Bank’s Swiss subsidiary to LGT Bank of Liechtenstein as it presses ahead with reorganisation after last year’s troubled takeover. LGT’s purchase of Dresdner Bank (Switzerland) doubles its asset base in Switzerland to about SFr20bn ($19bn) under management for a total of about SFr87bn.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Commerzbank sells Dresdner Bank (Switzerland) to Liechtenstein-based LGT Group — statement.
- Julius Baer first-half net profit falls to CHF 324m, AUM up 9 per cent at CHF 299bn — statement.
Commerzbank soars on asset plan hopes
Shares in Commerzbank gained 18.6% to €5.26 on Wednesday after the ECB said it had no objections to Germany’s “bad bank” plan. The plan, which is due to be finalised in parliament on Friday, would allow German banks to offload toxic assets from their balance sheets.
CDS report: Europe ends flat as green shoots wither
This CDS report was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan
The Markit iTraxx Europe index finished the day flat at 122bp, However, this masked a session of considerable volatility, with nervous investors looking for direction.
Weekend catch-up
In case you missed these stories:
- Hedge funds have their best month in years
Hedge funds posted their best monthly returns in nine years in April as they took advantage of rallying stock markets and opportunities in the energy and fixed income markets.
Commerzbank to divest property unit
Commerzbank is to divest its Eurohypo property finance subsidiary as part of a deal with European competition authorities to compensate for the €18.2bn ($24.2bn) of state aid given to Germany’s second largest bank.
Commerzbank to sell hedge fund unit
Commerzbank has put Comas, its $900m fund of hedge fund manager, up for sale just months after it gave its main asset management unit to Allianz, the insurer, as part-payment for its takeover of Dresdner Bank.
Dresdner takes bonus battles to new highs
Hell hath no fury like a banker gypped of his bonus, or so it seems by the latest moves from Dresdner Kleinwort.
In an escalating row that has been brewing since Commerzbank bought the London-based investment bank as part of its purchase of Dresdner late last year,
Painful deleveraging. Coming soon.
Cazenove produced a note earlier this week focussing on European banks. All of whom, forget not, operate with very high levels of leverage. Although Euro-specific, the note has implications for all banks.
CDS report: Banks suffer as market rallies
European banks were under pressure in generally more positive credit markets on Friday, after the German government’s €10bn capital injection for Commerzbank underlined the difficulties still faced by banks even after widespread bailout packages.
All calm on the Allianz front
The German government’s unexpected capital injection into Commerzbank late on Thursday may have revived some of those 2008 emergency banking bailout jitters, but – all in all – analysts seem fairly unrattled by the move.
Germany takes Commerzbank stake
The German state on Thursday injected a further €10bn into Commerzbank and took a 25% stake to shore up the country’s second-largest lender and enable it to complete the takeover of Dresdner Bank, its ailing rival.
Commerzbank statement: German govt to take 25% stake
Statement just out from CBK (emphasis ours):
Commerzbank AG / Corporate Action/Acquisition
08.01.2009
Release of a UK Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG.
Commerzpanic
Who said market runs on banks were a 2008 affair?
Commerzbank was pummelled in Frankfurt on Thursday after this report in our erstwhile sister-publication, Financial Times Deutschland:
Exklusiv Coba braucht frische 10 Milliarden
Basically,
Commerzbank outlines Dresdner integration
Commerzbank’s investment-banking chief on Wednesday laid out his plans for the integration of Dresdner Kleinwort, including closing the UK M&A business and abolishing trading with the bank’s own capital.
CDS report: lurching towards Armageddon
European credit spreads were lurching back towards “Armageddon levels” on Wednesday, flirting with their all time highs as speculation mounted over a bail-out for US carmakers. The Markit iTraxx Europe index of investment grade corporate debt widened 12.9 basis points to 175bp,
Dresdner woes hit Allianz – again
Allianz’s Dresdner Bank unit posted its biggest quarterly loss since the start of the financial crisis, the insurer said Monday, pushing the group to a €2bn ($2.57bn) net loss, reports Reuters. Allianz is selling Dresdner Bank,
Brussels probes Commerzbank bail-out
The European Commission is investigating Germany’s €8.2bn ($10.7bn) capital injection into Commerzbank, in the first public dispute between Brussels and state authorities over an individual bank’s participation in a national rescue scheme.