Spain's Caixabank to cut about 3,000 jobs

CAIXABANK, Spain's biggest bank as measured by assets under management, plans to slash around 3,000 jobs as part of a restructuring.

The Barcelona-based bank said the restructuring was needed following the purchase of smaller rivals Banca Civica and Banco de Valencia, which has caused its staffing levels to soar.

"The implementation of this restructuring will affect some 3,000 employees," it said in a statement.

CaixaBank bought Banca Civica and rescued lender Banco de Valencia last year, although the latter has not yet been fully integrated.

It had 32,625 employees at the end of 2012, compared with nearly 27,000 a year earlier, while its network grew by more than 1,000 branches.

Caixabank's net profit plunged 78.2 per cent to 230 million euros ($A297 million) in 2012 over the previous year as a result of having to make greater provisions to cover potential real estate losses.

Spain's real estate market crashed in 2008, which left lenders awash with bad loans and prompted a wave of consolidation and hefty job losses in the sector.

Last month Spanish bank workers staged nationwide protests over the tens of thousands layoffs in the industry and against top executives they hold responsible.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy last year secured an agreement for a European Union rescue loan of up to 100 billion euros to fix the banks' balance sheets, and a first slice of 37 billion euros has already been pumped into stricken banks.

CaixaBank was born July 1, 2011, when Caixa savings bank group listed its retail banking activities.

Banca Civica also made its debut in July 2011 after it was formed from the merger in 2010 of the regional savings banks Caja Navarra, Cajasol, Caja de Burgos and CajaCanarias.

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Silencer plan for NSW park hunting

HUNTERS will be allowed to use silencers on guns when shooting feral animals in NSW national parks to minimise disturbance to other users under proposals being considered by the government.

The proposal in a leaked draft assessment report would require loosening the state's prohibition on silencers, a ban designed to stop them falling into criminal hands, Fairfax newspapers reported on Tuesday.

But Police Minister Mike Gallacher, who was not consulted about the plan, says he does not want existing restrictions to change.

The Game Council of NSW has been pushing for hunters to be allowed to use silencers.

But National Parks Association of NSW campaign co-ordinator Justin McKee said silencers were a safety risk as they removed people's awareness that hunting was taking place nearby, Fairfax reported.

Environment Minister Robyn Parker is overseeing preparation of the risk assessment before declaring 77 national parks and reserves open for amateur hunting of feral animals from May.

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Ikea pulls meatballs over horsemeat fears

SWEDISH furniture giant Ikea has withdrawn some of its meatballs from sale in at least 15 European countries after horsemeat was found in the product by Czech authorities.

"We take this very seriously and have withdrawn one-kilo bags of frozen meatballs from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, France, Britain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Cyprus, Greece and Ireland," in addition to Sweden, said company spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson.

The product had also been removed from shelves in Denmark, according to Dorte Hjorth Harder, spokeswoman for Ikea Denmark.

"We have today been informed that our meatballs could contain traces of horsemeat, based on a test done in the Czech Republic," Ikea said in a statement.

"Our own tests haven't shown any traces of horsemeat. We now obviously have to study this further," it added.

The batch of 1kg frozen meatballs had been pulled from shelves due to "customer concerns", Ikea said.

Sweden's National Food Agency said it had been informed of the tests by Dafgaard, the company that produces the meatballs sold by Ikea in most European countries.

"It's the authorities in the Czech Republic that found traces of horsemeat in one of three tests they performed," said Karin Cerenius, head of food control for the agency in the western region of Vaestra Goetaland.

"They still don't know the amount (of horsemeat) involved," she said.

Dafgaard said in a statement it was performing its own DNA tests on the batch and that the meatballs had been "blocked" from distribution.

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Lost Sydney boy found, one still missing

ONE of two boys who went missing from school in Sydney's southwest has returned home but police continue to search for his friend.

Jaydan Patterson, 13, and Tyler Rolani, 11, were last seen leaving their school at Warwick Farm about 10.35am (AEDT) on Monday.

Police were seriously concerned for their welfare as they both had intellectual disabilities and could be easily disoriented.

Tyler had since returned home to his family in Macquarie Fields and was safe and well.

They said they were following a number of inquiries to locate his friend Jaydan.

He has dark hair and freckles and is believed to be wearing three-quarter length shorts, a dark coloured collared shirt and black runners.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts should immediately call triple-zero.

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US stocks rise on promise of more stimulus

US stocks have opened solidly higher on expectations of continued economic stimulus measures by central banks.

Five minutes into trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 53.27 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 14,053.84.

The broad-based S&P 500 increased 7.74 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 1,523.34.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 20.09 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 3,181.90.

The increases followed comments on Friday by St Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard that the US easy-money policy would continue.

On Monday, news surfaced that Japan's prime minister plans to appoint as central bank chief Haruhiko Kuroda, the president of the Asian Development Bank, who is viewed as favouring economic stimulus measures.

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Philips drops 'Electronics' name

DUTCH manufacturing giant Philips says it intends to drop the word Electronics from its name as it shifts away from consumer-based entertainment towards health, well-being and lighting products.

Based in Eindhoven in the southern Netherlands, Philips announced in late January it was selling its lifestyle entertainment branch, which makes audio, video and multimedia products to Japanese company Funai in a 150 million euro ($A194 million) deal.

The proposal to drop the word Electronics to rename the company Royal Philips will be put to shareholders at the annual general meeting in Amsterdam on May 3, Philips said in a statement.

"Philips is a diversified technology company focused on delivering meaningful innovation in healthcare, energy-efficient lighting and consumer health and well-being," its chief executive Frans van Houten said.

"We believe having Royal Philips as our new company name will position us well in our endeavour to make the world healthier and more sustainable," he added.

Founded in 1891, the company specialised for years in making lightbulbs and later televisions. In the past decade however, it has diversified into manufacturing medical equipment such as resonance scanners.

It has been operating under the name Philips Electronics since 1991 and Royal Philips Electronics since 1998.

"We believe the new name better reflects that consumer electronics is not our priority anymore," Philips spokesman Steve Klink told AFP.

"The name change is a step in a process that we began several years ago," he said.

Last year, Philips finalised the sale of its television-making arm - a victim of competition from Asia - and the Funai deal in January saw Philips stop manufacturing products such as stereos and DVD players.

The company however will continue to make small appliances such as razors, electronic toothbrushes and coffee makers.

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Italy's centre-left poised to win election

ITALY'S centre-left is poised to win against Silvio Berlusconi in a key election for the eurozone, but a new anti-austerity party is also set to make major gains, exit polls show.

The main Democratic Party led by Pier Luigi Bersani and its smaller leftist allies are ahead with between 34.5 and 37 per cent, beating the 29 to 31 per cent for a coalition led by the scandal-tainted former prime minister Berlusconi.

A projection by the SkyTG24 news channel said the left would manage to win a majority in both chambers of parliament, following fears it would fail to snag a majority in the upper house Senate.

The newcomer Five Star Movement led by former-comedian-turned-activist Beppe Grillo, who has channelled growing disenchantment with traditional politicians and rising social discontent, was given around 20 per cent in the exit polls.

European capitals and the financial markets have been concerned that no clear winner would emerge and stocks in Milan jumped by more than 3.5 per cent immediately after the exit polls were released on Monday.

A lacklustre turnout however reflected widespread frustration among voters fed up with austerity cuts and a grinding recession.

In the first day of voting on Sunday, turnout was 55 per cent - seven percentage points lower than at the same time in the last elections in 2008.

Outgoing prime minister Mario Monti was slated for fourth place, according to the exit polls, with only around 10 per cent of the vote.

The wild card in the election has been Grillo, who has called for Italy's debts to be cancelled and for a referendum on whether to stay in the euro.

Critics have said his party's candidates are too inexperienced, while supporters say they could bring a much-needed breath of fresh air.

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Record British offshore energy investment

BRITAIN'S offshore oil and gas sector will invest a record STG13 billion ($A19 billion) in 2013, boosted by the impact of taxation changes in the previous year, an industry survey shows.

Overall investment is expected to surge by 14 per cent this year, compared with STG11.4 billion in 2012, industry body Oil & Gas UK said in a statement detailing its latest activity survey. Last year's figure had already been a 30-year high.

"Here is some really good news for the UK," said Oil & Gas UK chief executive Malcolm Webb.

"After two disappointing years brought about by tax uncertainty and consequent low investment, the UK continental shelf (UKCS) is now benefitting from record investment in new developments and in existing assets and infrastructure, the strongest for more than three decades."

He added that last year's changes in the taxation regime, which were aimed at promoting the development of a range of difficult energy projects, had prompted many companies to reassess their plans and sparked a new wave of investment.

Oil & Gas UK, which represents more than 300 firms, added that output was forecast to surge over the next three to four years thanks to the recent surge in investment.

Production was expected to jump to approximately 2.0 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) by 2017, it said.

However, the industry body noted production sank to 1.55 million boepd in 2012. That was 14 per cent lower than 2011 and 30 per cent lower than 2010.

And output was forecast to decline in the current year to 1.45-1.5 million boepd.

"Recent collaborative work between government and industry is now bearing fruit in terms of investment and job creation right across Britain and recovery in production and tax revenues will certainly follow," added Webb in the statement.

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