All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
First Bank, Ecobank eye sub-Saharan giant
After four years of on-off merger negotiations, First Bank of Nigeria is back in talks with Ecobank Transnational, the pan-African banking group headquartered in the West African state of Togo Four years after Nigerias largest bank by market cap, First Bank, and Togo-headquartered pan-African lender Ecobank first discussed getting together, merger talks have again been revived, heralding a possible fresh wave of consolidation within Nigerias banking sector.
Gold, silver and bronze for China’s banks
Chinas top banks have reported impressive earnings figures for 2008, topped by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China While 2009 could be an altogether tougher trading year, the banks themselves believe that opportunities remain, particularly in terms of mass affluent clients and cards income, reports Douglas Blakey.
In last place, AMP tries First
AMP, Australias second-largest wealth management company with A$105 billion ($76 billion) in assets under management, has fired its latest salvo at the countrys traditional Big Four banks by expanding its retail banking activities with the launch of a direct banking unit, AMP First. The roll out is being backed by AMPs biggest marketing campaign to date: a blanket advertising campaign as AMP wades into an increasingly crowded Australian online savings market. AMPs banking arm doubled its earnings in fiscal 2008, albeit from a low base, contributing A$21 million out of group underlying earnings of A$810 million compared with A$10 million in 2007.
JPMorgan Chase reports robust first quarter earnings
JPMorgan Chase, the largest US banking group by market cap, has reported better-than-expected first quarter 2009 net income of $2.1 billion, a 10 percent year-on-year decrease but a considerable improvement on Q408s net income of $702 million.
China’s banks report strong annual figures
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the worlds biggest bank by market cap ($180 billion), posted Q4 net income of CNY18.11 billion ($2.65 billion) down 0.5 percent year-on-year
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Aiming for a top three spot in China
The head of its consumer bank in the country, Wilson Chia, tells Douglas Blakey it has bold ambitions to be a top three consumer, premium and small- and medium-sized bank in selected markets in the country over the next few years. Standard Chartered (StanChart) fresh from posting a peer-busting set of results for 2008, with pre-tax profits rising by 19 percent to $4.8 billion (see RBI 608), has reiterated its desire to grow its Asian-based operations in general, and China in particular.
We are uniquely placed in Nigeria’
South Africas Standard Bank has ambitious plans to grow its presence in the challenging Nigerian market via its local subsidiary Stanbic IBTC Stanbic IBTC, the Nigerian subsidiary of Africas largest bank by assets, Standard Bank, plans significant growth in the country via an expanded branch network, improved online offering and mobile banking launch, backed up by an augmented range of retail products.
eSignatures demand drives BB&T deal
Banking technology solutions provider Fiserv has said that BB&T, the 11th largest US bank by assets (and one of the better retail performers in 2008 see RBI 606), is to deploy its Secure Lending platform
KBC vows to grow customer satisfaction
But while his bank has not escaped unscathed, Danny De Raymaeker, CEO of KBCs Belgian Business Unit, says public trust in KBC remains relatively intact
The risks are less in the Czech Republic’
Zdenek Mojek, director of marketing and business development at Komercn Banka, tells Douglas Blakey the Czech banking market is less exposed to the economic crisis than other countries in the region Although acknowledging that the year ahead will be difficult, the leading banks in the Czech Republic are at pains to stress they remain profitable, do not require extra capital and have no liquidity concerns, with lending financed in full by domestic deposits.