Danske still writing off bad loans here despite upturn at home
Denmark’s biggest listed bank has had to cut staff and close branches to recover from the financial crisis, when it was hit hard by its exposure to Ireland as well as the sluggish Danish economy and a collapse in the country’s housing market.
Danske said it is aiming to pay out 40pc of net profit in dividends next year after its earnings almost doubled in the third quarter due to …
After debt do us part it will be a journey into the unknown
Except that, in the world of finance and economics, one has never been here before. Underlying truths may be permanent (despite the endless ill-fated attempts to deny them) but nothing ever repeats itself exactly.
Take debt. Back in the 1980s it was a central obsession, with lots of colourful statistics. The one I remember best was that we had more foreign debt per person than the Poles. This was considered …
The banks passed a stress test! Whoopee! and it only cost us €27bn
It was also spun out as a positive indicator for the future that Irish banks might now start to lend more money.
This missed the point entirely. In a country where the State bailed out the surviving banks to the tune of nearly €30bn, after conducting very arduous stress tests itself, basic innumeracy was the only way taxpayers would have had to fork out any more money for Bank of …
Business sentiment at highest level since 2006
All sectors have reported an improvement in business conditions, according to the latest KBC Bank of Ireland/Chartered Accountants Ireland Business Sentiment index.
Business chiefs also claimed that Budget 2015 will have a “modest” positive impact on employment and also help bolster investment.
Austin Hughes, KBC Bank Ireland chief economist, said the strongest element in the autumn survey was companies’ assessment of their own business volumes in the past three months.
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Corporate lending in Ireland suffers steepest fall since 2011
Ireland recorded a 12.5pc decline in corporate lending – its steepest drop since July 2011.
The figures from the European Central Bank showed corporate lending decreased on an annual basis in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, but continued to rise in Germany, Finland, France and Austria.
Weak lending has been one of the main impediments to growth as European companies rely mostly on funding from banks, which have been reluctant …