Bank arranges confidentiality agreements to stop escalation of bad press

Saxo Bank has allegedly signed a number of deals with angry customers to prevent them from going to the media or the Financial Supervisory Authority, writes Berlingske Business.

The bank, which has endured a torrid time in recent months at the hands of the media, is alleged to have agreed settlements that will reportedly make it more difficult for the FSA to conduct its ongoing review of the bank.

Potential crisis still looms over the horizon, but positivity prevails after half-yearly results

Many firms have in recent weeks presented their half-year results, thus reflecting the current health of the Danish economy.

However, while the first half brought positive developments across the business world,  shares still took a tumble following some companies’ results announcements, causing some to question the stability of the market.

Shipper is accused of walking away from deal with British retailer

Shipping firm Mærsk is being sued for 70 million kroner by British retailer Argos, writes financial daily Børsen, citing British newspaper The Independent.

Argos is suing Mærsk for 8 million pounds (approximately 72 million kroner), accusing Mærsk of walking away from a deal to transport 5,000 40-foot containers from the Far East to Britain in 2010 and another 5,000 in 2011.

Dane replaced by Australian after 20-year stint at the corporation

US fast food restaurant chain McDonald’s has dismissed its ‘director of McDonald’s Denmark’.

Kristian Scheef Madsen, who held the post for 20 years, has been replaced by the Australian Stephen Shillington.

Struggling banks consider joining operations to improve finances

The two banking institutions Morsø Bank and Morsø Sparekasse, which are both located on the Danish island of Mors in Jutland, are set to merge in an effort to improve their struggling finances.

The banks have announced in a stock market press release that their boards have decided to look into the advantages of a merger, adding that both boards wish to create an even stronger banking institution that will benefit the local area and region, and which is based on a solid capital foundation and a good business economy.

Maersk eyeing possibilities in Norway for oil production

Shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk is currently in talks with select banks regarding a loan of several billion dollars, reportedly to refinance existing debt, according to Reuters and Bloomberg News.

It was also reported this morning that the shipping firm’s subsidiary, Mærsk Oil & Gas, is considering acquisitions in Norway to boost oil production. Maersk’s oil enterprise is currently the second-largest producer in the Nordic states.

Morten Jeppesen, managing director for Mærsk Oil & Gas in Norway, told Berlingske Tidende newspaper that the firm is active in Norway, and that it is its intention to start its own production in Norway relatively quickly. This could be in the form of its own drilling operation or acquiring a company which is already active.

The shipping firm has been active on the Norwegian market since 2005, and holds nine licenses there.

The matriarch of the Danish shipping firm, Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller, has just been named the wealthiest man in the country by Berlingske Nyhedsmagasin, on the basis of his stake in the shipping firm - an estimated 125 billion kroner.

Market share still down but some positive signs from Finance Ministry

On Monday, foreign minister Lene Espersen announced that the Danish export market was doing well, having increased its global market share despite the economic crisis.

But that announcement may have stretched the truth somewhat, as the Finance Ministry’s latest publication indicated that export companies continue to struggle, reports financial daily Børsen.

Fall in bank numbers expected to continue

Close to one out of every four banks in Denmark has closed down over the past three years, which means that back in 2007, there were 37 more banks and savings banks to choose from.

While several banks have gone out of business due to bad management, most of the fall can be attributed to the global economic crisis.

Per H Hansen, a professor in bank history at Copenhagen Business School, told Berlingske Tidende newspaper that he expects the fall to continue.

Today, there are currently 122 banks left in Denmark.

Earnings from IT Factory period at issue in tax evasion case

The former board chairman of bankrupt IT Factory and his wife have both been charged with tax evasion, according to information obtained by Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

IT Factory made headlines when its CEO Stein Bagger fled from authorities in November 2008, after the company’s huge profits were revealed to have been the result of a Ponzi scheme. Jensby had always maintained his innocence with regard to the fraud, but tax authority Skat now believes the former chairman owes around 440,000 kroner of profits earned from the business.

Jensby reportedly sent money he earned from his IT Factory post, and as head of JMI Invest, to his own company, Troya Private Equities Inc., which is based in the British Virgin Islands. When Jyllands-Posten originally publicised the irregularity, Jensby said he thought he had possibly been the victim of identity theft.

Jensby admitted that Skat was pursuing a case against him on the issue, but would not comment on the specifics of the case. He did say, however, that he disagreed with the tax authority’s interpretation of the case and that he was ‘extremely unhappy’ with the charges against his wife, Eva Snare.

Snare is reportedly being charged with tax fraud of around 600,000 kroner.

Cleaning firm one of the biggest employers in the world

Danish based cleaning firm ISS has become the fourth largest company in the world measured in the number of employees, reports public broadcaster DR.

The firm has a total of 525,000 employees across 51 countries and thereby moves into the big league, fourth after giants Tesco, Wall Mart and Group Four Securicor, and ahead of multinationals like Siemens and McDonald’s.

Established in 1901, ISS is now owned by EQT Partners and Goldman Sachs Capital and is headquartered in Copenhagen.
 

Industry new boys reportedly have two billion kroner to invest

Mikael Skov, the former head of the Danish shipping firm Torm, is one of the men behind the new shipping company Tankers Inc., which reportedly has over 2 billion kroner ready to invest in growth.

Skov – along with his former colleague Jan Mechlenburg, who oversaw sales and acquisitions at Torm - has the backing from British bank Barclays’ investment fund BNRI and numerous private investors, according to financial daily Børsen.

More than half the nation’s banks exceeded limits of at least one risk category

A study of 56 financial institutions in the Danish kingdom has found that 27 have failed to live up to at least one of the five ‘threshold limit’ categories developed by the Financial Supervisory Authority to determine the risk of a bank’s operations to customers, according to a new study.

The study of Danish, Faroese and Greenlandic financial institutions was carried out by financial newsletter Bankinfo and analyst Bjarne Jensen of BJ Consult. The analysis was based on figures from the bank’s 2009 financial statements.

British firm confirms gas find off the coast of Greenland

British oil and gas exploration company Cairn Energy has found gas off the western coast of Greenland. The discovery was made in the Baffin Bay Basin, 175km off the west Greenland island of Disko. Cairn Energy, in an announcement to the London Stock Exchange, confirmed that this has increased the likelihood of it also discovering oil. It is the first oil or gas discovery in the Arctic Region.

‘Although we are at the very start of exploration in the basin, the discovery of gas in thin sands is indicative of an active hydrocarbon system,’ said the statement. ‘The well has not yet reached target depth.'

The management of bankrupt or heavily indebted banks should be severely penalised

Many of the country’s most ailing or collapsed financial institutions were headed by executives whose leadership was so reckless that they should be prosecuted for criminal offenses, according to the head of the banking industry’s member organization.

Jørgen Horwitz, the managing director of the Danish Bankers Association, said he hoped there would be punishment in the form of imprisonment or claims against bank management and the financial sector generally, which bears responsibility for the billions of kroner their customers have lost.

Airline will attempt to raise new capital in the near future

Cimber Sterling Airlines has appointed Vilhelm Hahn-Petersen as its new chairman of the board, following Thursday’s news that Niels Erik Nielsen would not stand for re-election of the post.

The new chairman of the hard pressed Danish airline told press that the company will attempt to raise capital in the near future.

Pandora listing could take place as early as September

Jewellery firm Pandora has today released impressive first half 2010 figures, once again fuelling speculation that it might soon announce plans for an IPO.

For the six months to the end of June, Pandora generated record revenue of 1 billion kroner, and now expects its 2010 revenue to total 2.2 billion kroner.

Consumer Council promises better retail prices for public

Brian Mikkelsen, the economics and business minister, is as of today merging the competition and consumer authorities. The new authority will be known as the Competition and Consumer Authority.

Mikkelsen has received positive feedback for the move from the Consumer Council, as it believes that healthy market competition can lead to better prices for consumers. Agnete Gersing, who formerly headed the Competition Authority, heads the new authority, and all employees of the two authorities will stay on at the new merged entity.

Head of airline leaves board for personal reasons

The chairman of Danish airline Cimber Sterling is to step down after deciding not to stand for the post again due to personal reasons. He is also giving up his seat on the airline’s board.

Independent review hinders sale proceedings for the major bank

JP Morgan and SEB Enskilda have reportedly been appointed to sell up to 30.1 percent of the shares in Saxo Bank, but a sale of the whole bank remains a possibility.

According to Berlingske Business, US-based private equity fund General Atlantic has hired the two investment banks to sell its 22 percent stake in the Danish bank, a stake which it has held for the past five years. At the same time, current and former employees, who together own 8.1 percent of the bank, are also now being given the chance to sell their shares.

Founder eyes share of the average Joe market in the US

The founder of Danish juice bar chain Joe & The Juice is planning an expansion into the US market.

Kaspar Basse established the highly-successful juice bar in mid-2002 in inner Copenhagen, and today the bar has become a chain with outlets across the country and more recently Europe, having recently opened bars in London, Stockholm and Gothenburg.