Source: Reuters Ford Motor Co is pouring US$3.8 billion into its global pension plan this year and will invest its plan assets more heavily in bonds, as the second-largest US automaker moves more aggressively to minimise its pension risks in a shaky market. The planned cash injection, detailed in its annual securities filing posted on ...
Source: Reuters Eurozone finance ministers sealed a EUR130-billion (US$172 billion) bailout for Greece Tuesday to avert a chaotic default in March after persuading private bondholders to take greater losses and Athens to commit to deep cuts. After 13 hours of talks, ministers finalised measures to cut Greece’s debt to 120.5 per cent of gross domestic ...
Source: AFP Greece, which is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, is “no threat to the world economy,” European Central Bank executive board member Joerg Asmussen said in a newspaper interview Monday. “Luckily, Greece is no threat to the world economy,” Asmussen told the Financial Times Deutschland. “Nevertheless, other countries expect us to find ...
Source: AFP The German economy, Europe’s biggest, contracted 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year as exports were hit by the eurozone debt crisis, according to official data. “Foreign trade had a negative effect on the German economy in the final quarter of 2011. But consumer spending also declined slightly,” the ...
Source: AFP Italy has slid into recession after the economy shrank 0.7 per cent in the fourth quarter following stringent budget cuts aimed at stabilising the public finances, official data showed Wednesday. The economy contracted 0.2 per cent in the third quarter and a recession is normally defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. ...
Source: AFP Moody’s on Monday downgraded the debt ratings of Italy, Spain and Portugal and placed negative outlooks on France, Britain and Austria, blaming the ongoing fallout from the eurozone crisis. Ratings were also cut for Slovenia, Slovakia and Malta, with Moody’s saying all nine countries were increasingly susceptible to financial and macroeconomic risks from ...
Source: AFP Airbus Chief Executive Thomas Enders vowed Monday that the company will quickly fix tiny cracks detected on the wings of its flagship A380 super jumbo, admitting “we screwed that up”. Enders said he hoped that the wing problem as well as troubles on some of the A380′s Rolls Royce engines which had been ...
Source: AFP British bank Barclays’ net profits dropped 16 per cent to GBP3.0 billion (EUR3.57 billion or US$4.74 billion) in 2011 from a year earlier and cut its bonus pool by a quarter, it said on Friday. Barclays said it was reducing the bonus pot to GBP2.15 billion, down 25 per cent compared with 2010, ...
Source: AFP Greek leaders Thursday fell short of striking a deal on austerity cuts, even as their finance minister headed to Brussels Thursday for crucial eurozone talks on a new bailout to avert a debt default. Before leaving Athens, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said he remained hopeful of winning the bailout loan from ...
Source: AFP Spain warned Thursday its jobs-starved economy will shrink at an even faster rate in the first quarter of 2012, plunging the country back into recession. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos gave the grim forecast, piling on the agony after the economy shrank 0.3 per cent in the final quarter of 2011 with a ...
