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International Business News
Rescued bank Dexia posts 3.3 billion euros losses for 2008
AFP, Hi assets
Bailed out Franco-Belgian bank Dexia on Thursday announce a larger than expected 3.3 billion euro (4.2 billion dollar) net loss for last year thanks to US sub prime toxic assets.
Dexia suffered 3.326 billion euro losses in total, thanks largely to a 2.6 billion net loss in the fourth quarter
Those figures compared with a 2.5 billion dollars profit in 2007 including a fourth quarter profit of 587 million euros, in the days when no one knew how toxic those assets were.
The bank's CEO Pierre Mariani offered no apology for the bank's performance but admitted corporate mistakes.
The results, he said, "are evidence of the magnitude of a truly exceptional crisis and of die structural fragility developed in Dexia over recent years."
"They reflect the cost of risky developments backed by inappropriate funding and concentrated far from core markets and activities that have been the historic strength of the company."
Late last year. France, Belgium and Luxembourg injected 6 4 billion euros into Dexia and pledged to guarantee its borrowings on the markets as its shares plunged during the worst credit crisis in generations.
Lloyds bank in talks to ring-fence toxic assets
AFP, London
Britain's Lloyds Banking Group, which is 43-percent state owned, said Thursday it was in talks to take part in a government scheme to ring-fence toxic assets.
The announcement came after the Royal Bank of Scodand said it would participate in die Asset Protection Scheme (APS) to insure toxic assets worth 325 billion pounds.
RBS, which also revealed Thursday that it made a record loss of 24.1 billion pounds in 2008 because of the credit crunch, will cover 90 percent of losses stemming from the APS holdings.
"Lloyds Banking Group notes today’s announcement by RBS and confirms that it is in discussions with HM Treasury with regard to participating in the government Asset Protection Scheme," LBG said in a statement.
" These discussions are ongoing and no terms have been agreed. There can be no certainty that Lloyds' participation would be on the same terms as those announced by RBS."
Lloyds added that it would update the market on Friday when the embattled bank will publish its annual results.
Singapore tops in innovation, competitiveness: ITIF
AFP, Washington
Singapore is the world leader in terms of innovation and competitiveness while South Korea ranks fifth and Japan ninth, according to a report released here on Wednesday.
Other countries in the top 10 of the study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) were Sweden (2), Luxembourg (3), Denmark (4), the United States (6), Finland (7), Britain (8) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region of Canada, Mexico and the United States (10).
Other Asia-Pacific region countries in the top 40 included Australia (19), China (33) and India (40). The 15 Western European countries in the European Union, the EU-15, ranked 18th.
The study by the ITIF, a non-partisan think-tank based in Washington, used 16 indicators in six key areas to come up with the rankings: human capital, innovation capacity, entrepreneurship, information technology infrastructure, economic policy factors and economic performance.
Australian property developer sheds 1,700 global jobs
AFP, Sydney
Australia's largest property developer Lend Lease said Thursday it would lose about 1,700 jobs worldwide due to the global financial crisis, the second national company in as many days to flag job cuts.
Lend Lease posted a 600 million dollar (388 million US) first-half loss compared with a 251 million dollar profit recorded a year earlier, saying deteriorating economic and market conditions had forced it to reduce its global staff.
"There is no doubt that 2009 is challenging as the effects of the global financial crisis continue io be felt," chief executive Steve McCann said in a briefing on the results.
"Our total workforce of over 12,000 people is expected to reduce to just under 10,000, as we right-size for current market conditions."
About 300 of the jobs would go from Australia, with the majority expected in the US and Britain, where economic conditions were more bleak, a spokeswoman told AFP