April, 2016

• 2 April

  Bahrain’s GFH signs £100 mn deal for London’s 1 Palace St

  

  Bloomberg GFH Financial Group ( GFH ), a prominent regional financial group, announced that it has signed an agreement with Palace Revive Developments Limited worth £100 million to be a key partner in the prestigious No. 1 Palace Street development in central London, a project being developed by Northacre, the leading British developer. Under the agreement, GFH will become a ...

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• 2 April

  Hilton Worldwide unveils new hotel in Egypt

  

  Dubai / Emirates Business Hilton Hotels & Resorts opened Hilton Alexandria King’s Ranchon Friday. The hotel marks Hilton Worldwide’s 18th in Egypt, showcasing the company’s commitment to expanding its operations and further strengthening its presence in the country. “As we continue to spearhead the hospitality industry in Egypt and around the world, we’re proud to expand our world-class offerings,” said ...

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• 2 April

  Zuckerman to leave Boston Properties Inc.

  Bloomberg Mort Zuckerman, who co-founded Boston Properties Inc. in 1970 and has been its chairman since 1997, will leave the company’s board next month following its annual election of trustees. Zuckerman, 78, won’t seek re-election at the company’s annual meeting, Boston Properties, the biggest U.S. office real estate investment trust, said. In honor of his “long and dedicated service,” Zuckerman ...

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• 2 April

  Anbang’s Starwood retreat is setback for China’s M&A campaign

  

  Reuters Anbang Insurance Group Co’s unexpected withdrawal this week of its $14 billion offer to buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc is a wider blow to the unprecedented drive by Chinese companies to acquire North American and European assets. Fresh disclosures by Starwood on Friday showed how Anbang’s hard-charging Chairman Wu Xiaohui backed out of the deal even after ...

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• 2 April

  China Construction Bank 2015 net profits fall flat

  

  Shanghai / AFP China Construction Bank (CCB), the country’s second-largest lender, reported flat growth in net profit in 2015, as bad loans jumped with economic growth slowing. The bank’s net profit edged up 0.14 percent year-on-year to 228.15 billion yuan ($35 billion) in last year, slowing from a 6.1 percent annual increase in 2014, according to a statement that was ...

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• 2 April

  Poland’s Alior buys GE’s Bank BPH

  WARSAW / Reuters Poland’s Alior Bank has agreed to buy Bank BPH from General Electric for 1.225 billion zloty ($329 million) and said it will look to make another acquisition this year after moving into the country’s top 10. Shares in the lender, which has a market capitalisation of 4.67 billion zlotys, jumped by up to 5.7 percent, with investors ...

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• 2 April

  Santander to close one in 10 Spanish branches to cut costs

  

  Bloomberg Banco Santander SA intends to close about 450 branches in Spain this year, more than one in 10, as the lender steers customers into digital banking to cut costs and bolster profitability. “Spain’s financial sector is facing a period of major change,” Country Head Rami Aboukhair told employees in an internal memo announcing the closures. “The current economic context, ...

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• 2 April

  Bank of Cyprus plans LSE listing to enhance profile

  

  Nicosia / AFP Bank of Cyprus, the bailed-out eurozone country’s largest lender, has announced plans to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange and to delist from the Athens market. The move reflects the bank’s ambitions of raising its “visibility and share liquidity” on a major European exchange, BoC said in a statement. The announcement came on the same ...

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• 2 April

  BNP Paribas, UniCredit CoCo coupons most at risk

  

  BLOOMBERG BNP Paribas SA and UniCredit SpA are closest to running into regulatory restraints on making payouts on securities, including their riskiest bonds, among the European banks followed by analysts at CreditSights Inc. If BNP were to run up losses that consumed capital amounting to 1.05 percent of assets weighted by risk, that would crimp the Paris-based lender’s ability to ...

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• 2 April

  Where’s the lane?

  

  Los Angeles / Reuters Volvo’s North American CEO, Lex Kerssemakers, lost his cool as the automaker’s semi-autonomous prototype sporadically refused to drive itself during a press event at the Los Angeles Auto Show. “It can’t find the lane markings!” Kerssemakers griped to Mayor Eric Garcetti, who was at the wheel. “You need to paint the bloody roads here!” Shoddy infrastructure ...

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