$215 b losses for UK banks, says Moody’s report

UK banks are less than half way through posting £240 billion ($398 billion) of losses on loans and securities, a reflection of the country’s economic weakness, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

British banks are likely to record losses of at least £130 billion, in addition to £110 billion lost since the beginning of the credit crisis in 2007, Moody’s said in a report on Monday.

The company expects the sustained weakness of the UK macroeconomic environment to feed through into higher loan arrears with ensuing pressure on profitability and capital, it said.

British taxpayers have provided about £1.4 trillion of support to banks, becoming the biggest shareholder of Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Lloyds Banking Group, while seeking to shore up capital eroded by writedowns. British banks have raised about £120 billion of capital from the beginning of the credit crisis to mid-2009, Moody’s said. “We have been underweight on the banks for some time”, said Dave Bradbury who helps manage $6 billion at Canada Life in London.

Agencies

Had Apple fired 1,600 from retail stores?

Apple has fired some 1,600 employees from its chain of retail stores due to slackening consumer demand, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The job cuts were referenced in a securities filing by Apple Thursday in which the company said it had 14,000 full-time equivalent employees in its retail division as of March 28, down from the 15,600 as of the end of December.

The move came as Apple's recent earnings report showed a drop in sales for its Mac computer line, which is the biggest earner at the stores.

According to the earnings statement, the average revenue per Apple store fell about 17 percent to $5.9 million in the quarter, while the retail division's operating income was also down due to the "challenging consumer-spending environment," Apple said.

Agencies