All articles by Claire Hack
Claire Hack
Former CEO of Austrian HGAA arrested
Wolfgang Kulterer was stopped by police in Klagenfurt in southern Austria on the morning of 13 August in connection with a lengthy investigation into HGAAs business activities.
Austrian leasing grows in first half
New business in the Austrian leasing sector has grown in the first half of 2010 by 1.1 percent, supported by public investment in properties. The volume of new contracts rose to 2.6 billion and property leasing contributed 490 million to this total, up almost 22 percent year on year, figures from the Association of Austrian Leasing Companies (VOL) have shown.
New CFO at De Lage Landen
Dutch finance provider De Lage Landen (DLL) has appointed Frans Overdijk as chief financial officer. Overdijk has 25 years experience in banking, including several senior management positions at DLLs parent bank Rabobank Group He spent the last seven years as one of two board members at FGH Bank, Utrecht.
Aircraft lessor lifts off in Dublin
A newly launched aircraft leasing business is to create 40 new jobs over the next three years and is already working on deals in Nigeria and Brazil. Milestone Aviation was founded by Richard Santulli, formerly of Warren Buffets private jet leasing company NetJets, and will focus 80% of its business on helicopters, mainly for government and corporate use. This will include emergency services, healthcare companies and oil and gas exploration companies looking to transport workers to rigs and offshore sites.
HSBC reports good results for half-year to June 2010
Overall, the group performed well, with pre-tax profits rising 121% to $11.1 billion (8.44 billion), compared to $5.02 billion in the first half of 2009. Its structured and asset finance arm, under which its leasing activities fall, also performed well, with a total operating income of $260 million in the half year to 30 June, compared to $137 million in the same period last year.
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Lessors look to software systems for a competitive edge
New developments help lessors to drive value from deals. A drive among lessors to improve process, retain clients and to be more agile has put renewed focus on the effectiveness of their IT systems. Automated systems and online facilities have become more or less commonplace among lessors as they strive to keep business practices up-to-date and cost-effective
CSI first tech lessor to offer carbon offset
International technology lessor CSI Leasing is to launch a carbon offsetting scheme for its customers, which it claims is the first of its kind in the UK.
Davenham proposes de-listing from AIM
Impairment of property loan book contributes to decision to stop writing business. Manchester-based commercial finance company Davenham Group plc has stopped writing new business, following a strategic review by Hawkpoint Partners. Corporate finance advisory firm Hawkpoint will work with Davenham to collect in its loan books in a prudent and orderly manner.
PCFG profit rises ‘ahead of expectations’
AIM-quoted finance house Private & Commercial Finance Group (PCFG) is among the few companies to have weathered the economic storm, emerging at the end of the year to 31 March with pre-tax profits at double their 2009 level. The group released its results for the year ending 31 March 2010 at the end of June, posting a pre-tax profit of £528,361 as well as strengthening its balance sheet with £1.4m of new share capital and the repayment of £2.3m of loan stock.
SG in talks to sell ECS Group
French bank Socit Gnrale is in exclusive talks over the possible sale of ECS Group, its technology finance and services subsidiary, to Econocom. Econocom has reportedly offered 210m for the group, and will finance this through 120m of acquisition debt financing, 30m of Econocom share issued to Socit Gnrale, 50m of bridge financing (to be reimbursed with a later equity raise) and 10m of cash from its own balance sheet.