Latest Other News In Brief

The Independent reports that Barclays has 'ridiculed' suggestions that it, too, is preparing for a rights issue. In an effort to differentiate itself from rival Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays chairman Marcus Agius said at the bank's AGM in London this week that 'When things are at their most difficult, the market tends to treat all peole pretty much the same.... Of course, that it rubbish. Some banks have better business portfolios than others and some banks perform better than others'.

The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to the average of forecasts from 15 analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires, Deutsche Bank is expected to post its first quarterly loss in 5 years when its releases its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday. A loss of around $300m is expected.

The Financial Times reports that Merrill Lynch is in talks with private equity firm TPG. On the agenda is said to be a possible injection of cash if Merrill decides it needs to further strengthen its balance sheet. Reuters reports that Merrill CEO John Thain said Thursday that he has no intention of selling the firm's 20% stake in Bloomberg, which is worth an estimated $5bn.

Bloomberg reports that Nomura Holdings has posted a $1.5bn loss in the 3 months ended March 31st, after a fall-off in bond trading revenues and a further writedown in the value of US mortgage-related securities.

Finally, Italy's biggest bank UniCredit has said that its first-quarter profit will be in the region of $1.56bn, although credit-related writedowns have doubled from the previous quarter to $1.07bn.