Banking

Bloomberg Credit Agricole SA is setting aside almost three times the amount it booked a year ago to cover souring loans because of the impact of the coronavirus, the latest lender to try and estimate the damage to its balance sheet from the outbreak. Provisions in the first three months of the year jumped to 621 million euros from 225 ...

Bloomberg Australian bank investors got their first taste of what is set to be a horror earnings season, as National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB) reported a 51% plunge in profit, slashed its dividend and embarked on a $2.24 billion capital raising. The early announcement — the lender wasn’t due to report until next week — has shareholders bracing for the ...

Bloomberg Indian money managers are dumping corporate bonds as they struggle to meet redemptions after the biggest-ever forced closure of funds in the country last month. Even higher-rated debt is under pressure. Notes issued by government-backed lenders Punjab National Bank, Andhra Bank and Canara Bank were traded in the past few days at the highest yields in over a year ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) said it’ll buy as many government bonds as it needs to and ramped up purchases of corporate debt, adding stimulus after the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency brought more shutdowns and heightened the need for financial support at struggling businesses. By ditching the guideline to increase holdings of government debt by around ...

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp. (BofA) received approval for 265,500 small-business loans totaling $24.9 billion in relief funds from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. Since the program reopened on April 27, the bank has sent 213,000 promissory notes to small businesses informing them that their loans were approved by the SBA, Bank of America said Monday in a ...

Bloomberg Canadian business loans grew at the fastest pace since 1981 in March as companies tapped credit lines to get them through the coronavirus crisis. Loans to businesses rose 54% annualised to C$949.2 billion ($668 billion), according to Bank of Canada data. The increase is the sharpest since 1981, reflecting the rush to borrow to stay afloat as countrywide shutdowns ...

Bloomberg Once again, Irish banks are at the sharp edge of a global crisis. In 2008, it was the melting away of liquidity. Just over a decade on, it’s Covid-19. AIB Group and Bank of Ireland Group are the worst performers in the Bloomberg Europe Banks and Financial Services Index over the past year, as the pandemic amplifies investor wariness ...

Bloomberg BNP Paribas SA warned full-year earnings will take a pounding from the coronavirus outbreak after the bank followed Societe Generale SA in setting aside more cash to cover problem loans and posted a $200 million hit at its trading unit. The French lender said net income this year could be 15% to 20% lower than in 2019 because of ...

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank kept the interest rate and yield objective unchanged Tuesday, while broadening securities eligible for its daily liquidity operations to assist the functioning of capital markets and keep rates down across the economy. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe maintained both the cash rate and three-year bond yield target at 0.25%, as expected by economists and ...

Bloomberg All three of Singapore’s banks are expected to see profit declines for the first time since 2016 as they set aside cash for a potential spike in bad loans stemming from the coronavirus-fueled economic slump. Net income at each lender probably slid between 21% and 28% in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier, according to ...