All articles by Duygu Tavan
Duygu Tavan
Lower write downs boost DnB NOR FY10 profits
DnB NORs full year net income in fiscal 2010 has more than doubled from the prior year, beating analysts forecasts. The Norway-based bank posted net profit for the 12 months to 31 December of NOK14.1bn ($2.42bn), up 100% compared to the previous fiscal. A 61.1% slump in total write downs on loans and guarantees in fiscal 2010 to NOK 3bn helped boost net income, the bank said.
Tieto and Balancion to offer PFM tools
Nordic IT company Tieto and Finland-based Balancion plan to launch a customisable PFM tool, just as banks begin to wake up to rising consumer interest in PFM tools Balancion, a company that develops and provides PFM tools, said the PFM tool will track information about the bank users expenditure habit and income and be able to automatically categorise expenses. The tool will combine information from the users bank account activity and credit card spending, and offer follow-up and forward planning opportunities.
Credit Agricole roll sout NFC mobile payments with Gemalto
France-based Credit Agricole is to offer contactless payments via mobile phones with Gemaltos wireless Near Field Communication (NFC) solution. Credit Agricole said that the partnership is part of its Nice, Ville NFC initiative to roll out NFC payments via mobile phones in the French city The banks unit in Nice, Credit Agricole Provence Cote d’Azur, is deploying Gemaltos Trusted Service Management facility to manage contactless payments in Nice.
French lender BPCE to expand in Asia and Africa
Frances BPCE, created by the merger of Banques Populaires and Caisse d’Espargne in 2009, is to expand in Africa and East Asia through organic and inorganic growth. The bank is shifting its retail banking business focus on emerging markets as higher capital and liquidity reserves required under Basel III are straining its domestic retail banking operations. The chief executive, Francois Perol said that the banking sectors in Western and Central Africa and East Asia provided more business potential with faster and stronger growth.
Raiffeisen acquires 70% Polbank stake in ?490m deal
Austria-based Raiffeisen Bank International (Raiffeisen) has acquired a 70% stake in Polbank, the Polish subsidiary of Greek bank Eurobank EFG. In December, RBI reported that three major European banks, Frances BNP Paribas, Italian lender Intesa Sanpaolo and Raiffeisen were bidding for Polbank.
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ING Direct launches Orange account in Turkey, promotional 9.5% savings rate
ING Directs Orange account which is already available in Europe and the US – will offer Turkish customers9.5% for deposits, falling to 8.5% after a promotional 90 day period. The deputy general manager of consumer banking at ING Turkey, Cenk Tabakoglu, said that most Turkish savers do not make long term investments and added that the bank wants to encourage long-term saving with the Orange Account.
Latin American earnings dominate Santander’s FY results
Santander’s net profit for the 12 months to 31 December fell 8.5% to 8.18bn ($11.1bn)following a sharp rise in the Spanish lenders non-performing loans Net income was down 22.8% to 3.89bn at Santanders continental Europe retail unit in fiscal 2010 Net profit at Santanders Latin American unit dwarfed the banks traditional retail units in Iberia, increasing by more than a quarter to 4.8bn
BBVA full year net income up 9.4%
BBVA has posted a full year group net profit for the 12 months to 31 December of 4.6bn ($6.3bn), an increase of 9.4% compared to the prior year. Net interest income declined 4% to 13.3bn from the corresponding period a year ago while income from fees and commission rose 2.4% to 4.5bn.
Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ 9M10 profits up 154%
Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFJ) Japans largest financial group has posted a net income of 551.8bn ($6.7bn) for the nine months to December 2010, an increase of 154.2% from the corresponding period a year ago.
CIMB Thai agrees bancassurance deal with Thai Life Insurance
CIMB Bank Thai (CIMBT) has agreed a ten-year bancassurance deal with Thai Life Insurance to offer insurance policies via the banks multi-channel banking services CIMBT will offer Thai Life Insurances services and policies in the banks branches, ATMs, online banking and mobile banking channels. The deal is an opportunity for CIMBT, a subsidiary of CIMB Group, to expand its bancassurance business, the bank said.