HSBC has seen its underlying profits rise in 2012, despite the financier being hit by a $1.9 billion (£1.26 million) fine for money laundering.

While overall profits slumped by six per cent year-on -year, the bank saw a boost in business throughout Asia and particularly Hong Kong.

Similarly, it claimed that improving investor sentiment and tightening spreads had contributed to a turnaround in European growth.

Stephen Gulliver, group chief executive at HSBC, hailed the “significant progress” it had made during 2012.

“We increased revenues, performed well in most faster-growing markets and enjoyed a record year in Commercial Banking,” he said.

“We’ve made the business easier to manage and control by disposing of non-core businesses and surpassed our sustainable savings target.”

The financier also weathered a negative fair value adjustment of $5.2 billion on its own debt, counteracting a positive adjustment of $3.9 in 2011.

HSBC enjoyed a record year in its commercial banking efforts and continued to pursue its strategy of growth and restructuring with a view to simplifying its activities.

It saw gains of eight per cent in commercial banking and a six per cent rise in retail banking and wealth management.

More than half of the bank’s revenue came from faster-growing regions and it also accrued sustainable cost savings of $2 billion.

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Shoppers in the UK want to see more British foods in supermarkets and served in restaurants.

This is according to a survey from agricultural union NFU, which found that 86 per cent of consumers are more likely to buy traceable food that is produced on British farms.

Similarly, 78 per cent agreed that supermarkets should stock more food produced within the UK.

NFU president Peter Kendall claimed a shorter and more accountable supply chain would help to alleviate some of the problems with meat traceability in the wake of the horsemeat scandal.

“Farmers have been furious about what has happened,” he said. “They have spent many years working to ensure the British supply chain is fully traceable from farm to pack and building strong principles,” he said.

Mr Kendall went on to express a desire to see greater transparency from food retailers and criticised the industry for short-term thinking.

“The margin distribution in the supply chain needs more transparency and joined-up thinking to tackle the dual challenges of volatility and environmental pressures,” he added.

According to the union, consumers should be more demanding in terms of querying the source of their food and retailers need to do more to make labelling clearer.

The statistics come in the wake of the meat contamination scandal, in which the presence of horsemeat was detected in beef products sold by high-profile supermarkets, including Tesco, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland.

Image used courtesy of Wikimages on Pixabay.

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David Cameron has led the largest ever prime ministerial trade delegation from the UK to India today (February 18^th).

As part of an effort to help promote British business overseas, more than 100 companies are participating in the three-day visit, alongside a number of ministers.

The prime minister vowed to do everything in his power to help Britain succeed in the global marketplace and suggested India needs a partner that can support its ambitions in multiple sectors.

“Britain can do all these things and more. So, we have to get out there, make the case for Britain and open doors for British business,” he said.

The delegation will visit both Delhi and Mumbai and Cameron is set to meet with Indian president Pranab Mukherjee and prime minister Manmohan Singh.

Among those in attendance are representatives of brands including Debenhams, Brylcreem and TRESemme`, whose products are set to go on sale in India in the near future.

A partnership between the Royal Mint and the MMTC-PAMP India was also announced, in addition to a raft of other trade and investment deals, which are expected to create 500 new jobs in Britain.

Trade minister Lord Green hailed India as having the potential to become one of the largest markets in the world.

“Government is clear that we must build deeper ties with India. This means supporting and encouraging a range of companies, both large and small, to do business there in the future,” he said.

Image used courtesy of UKTI.

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The Bank of England has claimed an economic recovery for the UK is “in sight” today (February 13^th).

Sir Mervyn King, governor at the institution, made the statement during the unveiling of the body’s latest Quarterly Inflation Report, in which it was suggested the road to recovery will be tricky.

Marking the report’s 20^th anniversary, he claimed that while unemployment is still too high and output has yet to reach parity with pre-recession levels, there is cause for optimism.

“That is not to say that the road ahead will be smooth. This hasn’t been a normal recession, and it won’t be a normal recovery. Our economy faces big challenges stemming from an abrupt and substantial reassessment of future economic prospects ,” Sir Mervyn said.

Despite the UK having a “broadly flat” output over the past two years, the governor claimed that a more encouraging picture lies underneath – pointing to steady growth in the manufacturing and services sectors as evidence.

Sir Mervyn went on to note that weak output figures reflected a dip in construction levels, which are not likely to be repeated this year.

“The challenge of rebalancing the world economy means that our road to recovery will be harder than in 1993. But recover we will,” he concluded.

A similarly optimistic picture was painted by the Confederation of British Industry’s latest economic forecast, which was also released today.

It predicts modest growth within Britain this year and a quickening pace of recovery in 2014.

“We are beginning to see the return of organic growth, with clear signs that firms offering the right products into the right markets are growing sales and expanding,” said John Cridland, director-general at the organisation.

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The government’s unpaid work schemes have been ruled unlawful following an appeal by a university student who was ordered to work for free at a Poundland store.

Appeal Court judges claimed that the government’s back-to-work programmes breached forced labour laws in cases where individuals were required to work without pay.

Cait Reilly, a university graduate, and Jamieson Wilson, an unemployed HGV driver, were both successful in their cases, in a move that could have wide-ranging implications for the Department of Work and Pension’s back-to-work schemes.

Employment minister Mark Hoban branded the comparison to forced labour “ridiculous” and expressed disappointment in regard to the court’s decision on regulations.

“There needed to be flexibility so we could give people the right support to meet their needs and get them into a job. We do not agree with the court’s judgment and are seeking permission to appeal,” he said.

However, Trade Union Congress general secretary Frances O’Grady claimed the ruling “blows a big hole” in the government’s policies in this area.

“It is pointless to force people to work for no pay in jobs that do nothing to help them while putting others at risk of unemployment. This policy is about blaming the jobless, not helping them,” she said.

Ms O’Grady went on to urge the government to discard this approach and focus on guaranteeing jobs for people in long-term unemployment.

Both Ms Riley and Mr Wilson were warned that they would lose their Jobseeker’s Allowance if they refused to take part in unpaid labour and solicitor Tessa Gregory, who represented the pair, claimed the verdict would send Iain Duncan Smith “back to the drawing board”.

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Barclays has announced it is to cut 3,700 jobs in an effort to reduce its running costs by £1.7 billion.

As part of a strategic review announced today (February 12^th), new group chief executive Antony Jenkins set out a number of commitments and actions that aim to mark a change in culture at the financial institution.

Commenting on the move, he claimed the goal is to make Barclays the “go-to” bank for its stakeholders.

“We have today set out a new course for the future of Barclays. I am extremely proud of the way our 140,000 staff have overcome the difficulties of the last year and shown the resilience necessary to deliver the results we announced this morning,” Mr Jenkins said.

The majority of job cuts are set to affect Barclay’s investment bank and the announcement follows the release of results that show a nose dive in pre-tax profit at the group during 2012.

In detailing its commitments, Barclays suggested it would focus investment in the UK, US and Africa, as well as maintaining an “appropriate” presence in Europe and Asia.

The group also said it would reduce running costs across the board by operating in a more efficient manner.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Jenkins claimed he was not daunted by the timescale involved in changing people’s perception of Barclays.

“It will take years before people change their impression of us,” he said.

Image used courtewsy of Tupungato / Shutterstock.com

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David Cameron has described the European Union’s (EU’s) long-term budget as “too high” and called Britain’s place in the federation into question.

Speaking outside of an EU summit today (February 7^th) the prime minister warned that no deal on the issue could be made until further cuts were instituted.

“When we were last here in November, the numbers that were put forward were much too high. They need to come down. And if they don’t come down, there won’t be a deal,” he said.

Talks on the budget last year broke down, despite EU president Herman Van Rompuy reducing it to €973 billion (£839 billion) and the latest meeting has seen Cameron threaten to veto any deal in which spending by Brussels is not significantly cut.

“Frankly the EU should not be immune from the sorts of pressures that we’ve had to reduce spending,” he said.

The prime minister went on to claim that “efficiencies” need to be found by member states, which should spend their money “wisely”.

However, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso warned leaders of the consequences that could face the EU if negotiations were not carried out “in a spirit of responsibility”.

“Further delays will send out a very negative message at this time of fragile economic recovery. The risk is that positions will harden and will be even more Difficult to overcome.”

Image used courtesy of Asianet-Pakistan / Shutterstock.com.

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The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has revealed the scale of the scandal facing British banks over interest rate swap mis-selling.

In a report released this morning (January 31^st), the body confirmed that Lloyds, RBS, HSBC and Barclays would be commencing a full review into their sales of such products to small businesses.

Martin Wheatley, chief executive officer designate of the Financial Conduct Authority claimed the review into interest rate hedging sales would result in “a fair and reasonable outcome” for affected companies.

“Small businesses will now see the result of the review as the banks look at their individual cases.  Where redress is due, businesses will be put back into the position they should have been without the mis-sale,” he said.

A pilot investigation by the FSA looked at 173 sales of such products to “non-sophisticated” customers and found that more than 90 per cent of the sales breached regulatory requirements.

Banks involved in the scandal came under fire from the business community, with the Federation of Small Business calling for “swift and decisive” action to redress affected firms.

“The FSA’s report into mis-selling highlights the seriousness of the situation finding that 90 per cent of loans were mis-sold. This is alarming, but will come as a relief to the thousands of small firms who have been anxiously waiting for an outcome,” national chairman John Walker said.

An investigation into sales of interest rate hedging products by Allied Irish Bank, the Co-Operative Bank and Santander UK was also announced by the FSA.

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Tesco has issued an apology to their customers following the revelation that three beef burger products retailing in their stores were found to contain horsemeat.

The supermarket issued a statement condemning the “unacceptable” issue and promising to find out exactly how it was allowed to happen. In  full page advertisements placed in a number of UK national newspapers, the  supermarket said:

“While the FSAI has said that the products pose no risk to public health, we appreciate that, like us, our customers will find this absolutely unacceptable.

“So here’s our promise. We will find out exactly what happened and, when we do, we’ll come back and tell you.

“And we will work harder than ever with all our suppliers to make sure this never happens again.”

Yesterday (Wednesday, January 16^th), The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) issued a report stating that in one beef burger sample from the supermarket, horsemeat accounted for approximately 29% relative to the beef content.

The offending burgers have been identified as Tesco Everyday Value 8 x Frozen Beef Burgers (397g), Tesco 4 x Frozen Beef Quarter Pounders (454g) and a branded product, Flamehouse Frozen Chargrilled Quarter Pounders.

All products were removed from the stores with immediate effect and customers have been invited to return any of the goods in question in exchange for a full refund.

The prime minister labelled the grim discovery as “extremely disturbing” and “completely unacceptable”, warning British retailers of their responsibility for the safety and standards of their food supply chain.

The same FSAI study also reported findings of pig DNA in a number of beef products. Given the strict dietary requirements of some members of the UK population, these results will pose a significant threat to consumer confidence.

Two processing plants in Ireland (Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods), and the Dalepak Hambleton plant in Yorkshire, have been identified as producers of the burgers, which retail in a number of other UK supermarkets including Aldi and Lidl.

Full investigations into the matter are being carried out by both the British and Irish governments.

Image used courtesy of JuliusKielaitis / Shutterstock.com

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Investigations are underway to determine why traces of horsemeat have been identified in a number of UK supermarket beef burgers.

Tests carried out by The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) analysed a total of 27 beef burger products, finding that 38% tested positively for traces of horsemeat.

Two processing plants in Ireland (Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods), and the Dalepak Hambleton plant in Yorkshire, have been identified as producers of the offending burgers, which retail in a number of major supermarkets including Tesco, Aldi and Lidl.

Tesco will be amongst the worst hit by the revelation, with FSAI reporting that horsemeat accounted for approximately 29% relative to the beef content in one of their samples.

The supermarket, which has already seen a £300m dip in market value since the news broke this morning (January 16^th) – released a statement addressing the “extremely serious” situation and promised to remove all items from its shelves with immediate effect.

Eighty-five per cent of beef burger products and around two-thirds of beef meal products, including cottage pie, beef curry pie and lasagne, also tested positive for pig DNA.

Prof Alan Reilly chief executive of the FSAI reassured consumers that there are no health implications from the consumption of horsemeat, but expressed his bewilderment at the findings, saying:

“There is no clear explanation at this time for the presence of horse DNA in products emanating from meat plants that do not use horsemeat in their production process.

“In Ireland, it is not in our culture to eat horsemeat and, therefore, we do not expect to find it in a burger.

“Likewise, for some religious groups, or people who abstain from eating pig meat, the presence of traces of pig DNA is unacceptable.”

Both Silvercrest Foods and Dalepak said they had never bought or traded in horse products and have launched an investigation into two continental European third party suppliers.

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