Latest news with #Benko
Business Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Julius Baer focuses on costs as CEO sets ‘realistic' goals
JULIUS Baer is stepping up its efforts on cost cutting while setting 'realistic' performance targets, as chief executive officer Stefan Bollinger seeks to move past a string of legacy issues. The Zurich-based wealth manager will seek 130 million Swiss francs (S$205 million) in cost reductions to 2028, according to a statement ahead of an investor day on Tuesday (Jun 3), while introducing a less ambitious efficiency goal. Bollinger and new chairman Noel Quinn are seeking to put the bank on a path for growth after 2023 losses linked to the Benko real estate collapse. Yet the bank is struggling to put the previous era behind it, amid restructuring and a continued drip feed of bad news. The firm scrapped medium-term targets for profitability, and instead introduced a goal for net new money, a key metric for wealth managers. The bank aims to improve the measure by 4 to 5 per cent over the next three years. In May the bank booked another large loss from property developments it helped finance. The 130 million Swiss francs loan-loss charge related to its private debt business and selected positions in its mortgage operation. 'Baer has reported an underwhelming strategy update as net new money and cost income ratio targets fail to excite relative to expectations,' analysts including Thomas Hallett at KBW wrote in a note. In the same month Julius Baer disclosed that regulators had ordered it to hand over 4.4 million Swiss francs because of alleged failings in money-laundering controls related to transactions that had occurred between 2009 and 2019. Baer confirmed that a share buyback programme is on hold until it has clarity over the outcome of an investigation into the Benko losses by the regulator Finma has concluded. Anke Reingen, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said that the target updates 'make sense' but that investors would need to see 'evidence of a better outcome and buybacks to resume to see earnings growth and upgrades coming through.' BLOOMBERG
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Austrian real-estate tycoon Benko must remain in custody, court rules
A court in Vienna ruled Monday that Austrian former real-estate investor René Benko, who is under investigation for fraud, must remain in pre-trial detention. Benko, 47, must remain in custody for at least another two months. The founder of the insolvent real estate and trading group Signa had applied for his release. However, the Vienna Regional Court refused this. The court stated that there was still strong suspicion and a risk of re-offending. He was detained in January and held in custody in Vienna. The Austrian Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) accuses the entrepreneur of concealing his personal assets in connection with the fall of his real-estate holding. He is suspected of embezzlement, fraud and bankruptcy. Investigators assume that Benko tricked investors into making contributions by pretending that a Benko family foundation would also participate in a Signa capital increase. In reality, however, they say, Benko channelled investors' money through a 'money carousel' and passed it off as his own contribution. According to the WKStA, Benko is also said to have hidden assets from authorities, creditors and insolvency administrators. The entrepreneur is also under investigation in Germany, Italy and Liechtenstein. His lawyer has so far rejected the accusations against Benko. Benko had built up a convoluted network of companies during the low-interest phase. He invested in Germany's Galeria department store group, the Berlin luxury department store KaDeWe and the Elbtower project in Hamburg. In addition to internal group problems, Signa was brought down by rising interest rates, energy prices and construction costs.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Germany's Richest Man to Pocket $9 Billion After Well-Timed Bets
(Bloomberg) -- Klaus-Michael Kühne, Germany's richest person, stands to reap at least $9.3 billion in dividends after a period of profitable growth at his expanding transport empire. Trump Administration Plans to Eliminate Dozens of Housing Offices NJ College to Merge With State School After Financial Stress Republican Mayor Braces for Tariffs: 'We Didn't Budget for This' How Upzoning in Cambridge Broke the YIMBY Mold NYC's Finances Are Sinking With Gauge Falling to 11-Year Low The windfall stems from the 87-year-old tycoon's 53% stake in Kuehne + Nagel International AG, the world's largest air and sea freight-forwarding business co-founded by his grandfather, a 15% holding in Deutsche Lufthansa AG and 30% stake in Hapag-Lloyd AG. He's the biggest investor in the German airline, having built his stake after a government bailout in 2022. And he boosted his interest in the container line in 2020, just before a boom that led to record profits. Kühne is among a clutch of European shipowners who made vast profits during the pandemic era when supply chain bottlenecks pushed up the cost of transport. Others include Gianluigi Aponte, founder of Geneva-based MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., the clan behind A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, and the Saade family, who control Marseille-headquartered CMA CGM SA. Their businesses continued to be highly profitable in 2024 after Houthi attacks in the Red Sea drove up rates. Kühne's fortune has more than doubled over the past five years to $39.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He told German newspaper FAZ in November that the 'values that have been collected are almost frighteningly high.' Big Gains His total gains from Kuehne + Nagel will be near 2.7 billion Swiss francs ($3 billion) since the 2021 financial year, when profit and dividends increased more than two-fold. The company this week announced a higher-than-expected payout of 8.25 francs per share. Lufthansa said Thursday it plans to pay a dividend for the second year in a row, bringing Kühne's total gain to €108 million ($117 million) for 2023 and 2024. That marks a turnaround from the firm's near-bust at the onset of the pandemic, when commercial airlines grounded their fleets. Kühne's biggest bonus by far during the period has been the €5.65 billion pocketed since the 2021 financial year from Hapag-Lloyd. This doesn't take into account a payout expected to be announced later this month with full-year earnings. Still, it's not only been wins for Kühne, who has sustained losses related to failed real estate tycoon Rene Benko. He refocused on transport last year when his investment vehicle Kühne Holding teamed up with buyout firm EQT AB to acquire a stake in German bus and train operator Flix. He lost about 500 million euros at Benko's Signa Prime. 'We were completely taken for a ride,' Kuhne said. Benko 'had me wrapped around his little finger.' Kühne moved to Switzerland a half-century ago, married at the age of 52 and has no children. He created a nonprofit Swiss foundation in 1976 that focuses on logistics, medicine and climate with strong ties to Kühne Holding. They're based, along with Kuehne + Nagel, in the hillside hamlet of Schindellegi, overlooking Lake Zurich. In the FAZ interview, Kühne said that after his death his assets will be turned over to the Kühne Foundation, which will become one of the largest in Europe. 'As far as anyone can tell, the foundation is in good hands,' he was quoted as saying, citing its 12-member board of trustees that includes former Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann. Kuhne also raised the possibility in the interview of revising his plan for attorney Thomas Staehelin, 77, to succeed him as president of the foundation because of the lawyer's own advancing age. Last year, the billionaire reorganized the governance of Kühne Holding, making Dominik de Daniel CEO to replace Karl Gernandt, who remains chairman and also sits on the supervisory boards of Kuehne + Nagel, Lufthansa and Hapag-Lloyd as well as the foundation. Snack Makers Are Removing Fake Colors From Processed Foods An All-American Finance Empire Drew Billions—and a Regulator's Attention The Mysterious Billionaire Behind the World's Most Popular Vapes Rich People Are Firing a Cash Cannon at the US Economy—But at What Cost? Greenland Voters Weigh Their Election's Most Important Issue: Trump ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Austria offers to host Ukraine peace negotiations, ambassador says
Austria is open to hosting Ukraine peace talks, Austrian Ambassador to Ukraine Arad Benko said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine on Feb. 21. With U.S.-led peace talks to stop Russia's war against Ukraine looming, various countries have put themselves forward as potential hosts for . "(Austrian) Chancellor (Karl) Nehammer emphasized that as the capital of a neutral country, Vienna is always ready to host future ," Benko in an interview with RBC-Ukraine on Feb. 21. has a history of hosting opposing sides for talks. The country hosted leaders of the U.S. and Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, Benko said. "Austria, as a neutral country, has offered its good services as a host of negotiations between parties involved. It's important to point out that Austria is also a seat of 52 international organizations including 18 UN organizations," he said. Austria, a permanently neutral nation under its constitution, hosts various international agencies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency () and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (). Ukraine and the must be involved in the peace talks alongside and the U.S., Benko added, echoing in Europe that the U.S. should not exclude Europe and Ukraine from peace talks. must participate in potential peace talks "not only because we are the biggest donors but because Ukraine is a European country fighting for our values and freedom," Benko said. Nehammer previously proposed Vienna as a site of talks between Kyiv and Moscow in September 2024. The Austrian chancellor reiterated the offer in a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in December. Nehammer also became the first EU leader to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin following the full-scale invasion in February 2022. He visited Moscow in April 2022, claiming it was his duty to open "humanitarian corridors" as a step towards ending the war. Other countries that have volunteered to host future peace talks include Turkey, China, and Saudi Arabia. U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 18 for preliminary talks without the participation of Ukraine or Europe. Kyiv continues to insist that no talks about ending Russia's all-out war should be held without Ukraine. Read also: How Trump could help Russia achieve the original aim of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
