Bank of Ireland today reported a loss of €1.8bn for the nine months to December 31, 2009 after bad debt charges of €4.1bn.
Principal news stories from the Irish Independent, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Financial Times and New York Times.
The financial crisis exposed Regions and its chief executive to one of the nation’s worst real-estate markets.
Irish Public Sector Service Agreement 2010-2014: The agreement between the Government and trade unions on public sector reform could work but to paraphrase the writer George Bernard Shaw, Christianity could be a good thing if anyone ever tried it. Put simply, only a fool could bank full confidence on this hastily cobbled-together deal and to quote the renowned American baseball player, Yogi Berra: “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
RBS plans to sell a $500 million security backed by commercial mortgages, the first deal of its type to come to market this year.
Japanese manufacturing output continued to rise in March but the rate of growth was the slowest in four months. Meanwhile, according to data issued by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo today, production at factories fell a seasonally adjusted 0.9 per cent in February from January. Compared with a year ago, February production was up 31.3 per cent.
Speculators are said to have been involved in the escalation of the Greek crisis, which has prompted politicians to call for bans on the purchase of naked credit default swaps (CDSs). However, this would not be any help to sovereign borrowers, according to Deutsche Bank.
Investors seeking high yields were active buyers of real-estate stocks during the first quarter, sending share prices higher despite the industry’s weak economic fundamentals.
The Dubai government replaced Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as chairman of Nakheel, the property developer that the city-state is restructuring along with its one-time parent Dubai World.
Henderson Land said it intends to increase its development land holdings in Hong Kong in light of its positive view of the city’s property market.