Generali sees scope for higher dividends as debt falls
LONDON (Reuters) – Italian insurer Generali is aiming to pay higher dividends to investors as its turnaround plan to cut debt through a string of asset disposals and hefty cost savings starts to pay off.
Electra Private Equity sets aside $100 million for staff payouts
LONDON (Reuters) – Electra Private Equity’s 20 investment team staff are each set to receive an average payout of about 3 million pounds ($4.85 million) following a year of gains for its portfolio.
Peugeot chief renounces pension package after outcry
PARIS (Reuters) – French PSA Peugeot Citroen’s outgoing chief executive Philippe Varin said on Wednesday he would renounce his pensions package because of the polemic and the emotion it has sparked in France.
Exclusive: U.S. expands China hiring probe to Morgan Stanley
(Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department is probing Morgan Stanley for its hiring practices in China as part of an industry-wide investigation by the government into whether banks’ employment of politically connected Chinese breached U.S. bribery laws, …
Court clears settlement among U.S. Justice, AMR, US Airways
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A judge on Wednesday approved a settlement resolving U.S. regulators’ opposition to a merger between AMR Corp and US Airways Group Inc, allowing AMR, the bankrupt parent of American Airlines, to soon close on a tie-up that will cre…
SAP rejects calls for a pan-European IT champion
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s biggest tech company, SAP, has rejected calls by domestic politicians for European IT firms to band together to better compete against U.S. tech groups in the wake of spying allegations.
HP gets positive reviews after revenue beat, shares jump
(Reuters) – Signs that Hewlett-Packard Co’s turnaround plan is finally yielding results put the company’s stock on track for its biggest one-day jump in a year on Wednesday.
ECB says financial system stress has fallen to pre-crisis levels
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone financial sector stress has fallen to levels not seen since before the global financial crisis began in 2007, but the sector remains fragile, the European Central Bank said on Wednesday.
Gauge of U.S. business spending plans, durable goods orders fall in Oct
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A gauge of planned U.S. business spending on capital goods unexpectedly fell in October and new orders for long-lasting manufactured goods were down, pointing to a loss of momentum in factory activity.
Japan to spend about 1 trillion yen on public works for stimulus: sources
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will spend around 1 trillion yen ($9.86 billion) on public works in a stimulus package to be finalized next month, sources said, to help offset the impact of an increase in the sales tax.