Bloomberg China’s largest banks posted double-digit increases in lending income in the third quarter, validating some of the earnings optimism that has fueled a rally in their shares this year. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. on Monday reported average net interest income gains of 15 percent. The figures …

Bloomberg The 6,000 job cuts announced last week at Nordea Bank AB are just a down payment for an industry facing radical overhaul, says Chief Executive Officer Casper von Koskull. “If somebody says, where are we, or where are banks, 10 years from now, banks could easily have half what they have today,” in terms of personnel, von Koskull said …

Bloomberg The Bank of England may increase interest rates this week for the first time in more than a decade, but that won’t be enough to buoy the pound, according to strategists. Markets almost fully price in a 25-basis-point increase in the BOE’s key rate on Thursday, meaning investors are ill-prepared for a disappointment. Should Governor Mark Carney and fellow …

Bloomberg China’s ambitious $55 billion infrastructure project that’s underway throughout Pakistan is in danger of becoming a non-event for the South Asian nation’s banks. President Xi Jinping’s multi-billion dollar economic corridor, part of his ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, has been viewed as a game-changer for Pakistan. Yet while local banks are keenly waiting to get their share of the pie, …

Bloomberg America’s passenger carriers have discovered that it’s getting more expensive to run an airline these days. While summertime profits were fine, and travel demand remains robust, a number of airlines are facing higher bills from a variety of factors: labour contracts, significant airport renovation projects, technology spending and fleet upgrades. The increase in expenses is creeeping into 2018 and …

Bloomberg Bombardier Inc. will likely fall short of the full-year delivery target for its cutting-edge C Series jet amid a shortage of available engines, analysts said. Delivery of 12 planes that had been scheduled for this year will probably slip into 2018, said Konark Gupta, a Macquarie Capital Markets analyst. That would mean Bombardier delivers 18 of the jets this …

Bloomberg Shoprite Holdings Ltd. is in talks to open its first stores in Kenya by filling retail space left empty by the struggling Nakumatt Holdings Ltd. chain. “We are currently in talks with some of the property owners but nothing has been signed,” Shoprite director Gerhard Fritz said. Africa’s biggest food retailer is awaiting the outcome of merger talks between …

Bloomberg The next sales pitch for one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines may turn out to be: No runway? No problem! SpiceJet Ltd., an Indian budget carrier that’s seen its stock zoom 899 percent in three years, wants to open up the third-biggest aviation market even more. That means targeting the billion Indians who’ve never flown before, either because they …

Abu Dhabi / WAM The net profits posted by 14 Emirati banks during the first nine months of 2017 grew by 2.8 percent to AED21.9 billion, from AED21.3 billion during the corresponding period last year. The positive performance of most of the national banks that announced their financial statements are attributed to improved global oil prices, which reflected favourably on …

Abu Dhabi / WAM Driven by increased buoyancy in non-oil sector, Abu Dhabi’s gross domestic product (GDP) surged by 6.7% in Q2 2017, against the corresponding period last year, according to a Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi (SCAD) report. The non-oil sector contributed 70.2 percent to the emirate’s GDP during Q2, while the oil-sector accounted for 29.8 percent only, said …