May, 2016

• 4 May

  Spanish banks launch wave of job cuts, closures

  

    Madrid / AFP Spanish banks, which slimmed down after a property boom went bust in 2008, are once again closing branches and slashing jobs as their profitability is hit by stiff competition. The country’s three biggest lenders — Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank — last week all posted lower first quarter net profits, especially in Spain, which is grappling with …

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• 4 May

  Soaring costs pinch USA’s realty nonbank lenders

  

    Bloomberg The mortgage upstarts that transformed the industry after the U.S. housing crash are now facing their own shakeout. Soaring expenses are squeezing profits for nonbank lenders, which have grown to almost half of the mortgage market, as new rules and stepped-up regulatory scrutiny slice into already-thin margins. The average cost to originate a home loan jumped by 18 …

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• 4 May

  China property portal SouFun seeks backdoor mainland listing

  

    Bloomberg SouFun Holdings Ltd. plans to switch its stock listing from the U.S. to China, joining companies including Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co. that are seeking higher valuations on mainland stock exchanges. SouFun, China’s biggest real estate web portal, is seeking to move its shares to the Shanghai stock exchange via an asset and share swap with storage-battery manufacturer …

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• 4 May

  Blackstone in talks for Sime Darby’s Oz assets

    Bloomberg Blackstone Group LP is in talks to acquire industrial property assets in Australia valued at about A$250 million ($190 million) from Malaysian palm-oil producer Sime Darby Bhd., according to people familiar with the matter. The New York-based private equity firm is in discussions to acquire as many as five industrial buildings in Australia, the people said, asking not …

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• 4 May

  Manhattan’s condo developer speeds up in slowing market

  

    Bloomberg While a luxury-condo glut spurs some of New York’s biggest developers to re-evaluate their plans, a relative newcomer is plowing ahead with confidence. Michael Shvo, a former real estate broker who closed his eponymous firm during the financial crisis, says he has about $4.3 billion worth of apartments under development and two more sites in contract. He’s trying …

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• 4 May

  Next cuts sales outlook as spending stance worsens

  

    Bloomberg Next Plc, the British clothing retailer, cut its sales forecast for the second time this year after reporting first-quarter revenue that missed estimates on unfavorably cold spring weather, sending another chill over the embattled UK apparel sector. Next now expects full-year sales to fall within a range of negative 3.5 percent and 3.5 percent growth due to weaker …

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• 4 May

  Sainsbury profit tops as it outpaces peers

  

    Bloomberg UK supermarket chain J Sainsbury Plc reported annual profit that beat estimates as the company outperformed peers in a market blighted by deflation and discount competition. Operating profit fell 11 percent to 700 million pounds ($1.02 billion) in the 52 weeks ended March 12, the country’s second-biggest grocer said in a statement Wednesday. Analysts expected 683.4 million pounds, …

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• 4 May

  Air France-KLM trims loss, warns of turbulence

  

    Paris / AFP Air France-KLM announced on Wednesday it had trimmed losses in the first quarter of 2016 but the airline said passenger traffic to Paris had been affected by terror attacks in Europe and it warned of a difficult year ahead. The Franco-Dutch group warned of doubts over fuel prices, some bloated routes and uncertainty over the economic …

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• 4 May

  Gol advices its bondholders as airlines struggles

  

    Bloomberg Gol Linhas Aereas SA is offering to exchange $780 million of dollar-denominated notes for new securities maturing over a decade, as the Brazilian airline struggles to reshape its finances amid a deepening recession in the domestic market. Bondholders of five different tranches of debt, one of them maturing as early as next year, are being asked to accept …

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• 4 May

  No fees on excess bags last great flight deal

  

    Bloomberg A low-cost, low-fare carrier such as Spirit Airlines Inc. makes its living on passenger fees. That those fees, known as non-ticket revenue, dropped by more than $2 per passenger in the first quarter, compared to a year ago, might suggest a shift in travellers’ tolerance for additional charges. Spirit blames its sagging fee tally on low fares; travellers …

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