LOSS-MAKING BANK OF SCOTLAND (IRELAND) GETS €2 BILLION CASH INJECTION FROM PARENT - Lloyds Banking Group injected €2 billion into its Bank of Scotland (Ireland) unit last month as it sought to buffer the loss-making Irish unit's balance sheet in advance of another massive bad loan impairment charge, the Irish Independent has learned. This brings to almost €3.5 billion the amount the group, which is 43% owned by the UK taxpayer, has pumped into BoSI over the space of 12 months to shore up its reserves. BoSI also trades under the Halifax brand in Ireland. The new cash call uses up a significant amount of Lloyds' record-breaking £13.5 billion (€15.2 billion) 'rights issue' share sale in December as the group sought to fireproof its capital reserves and avoid participating in the 'asset protection scheme' -- the UK government's alternative to our 'bad-bank' plan. Filings with the Companies Office show that BoSI has filed a so-called "return of allotments" document, indicating that the bank has received another massive bailout from its parent. The document has yet to be scanned. But the Irish Independent has been able to establish that the bank, which has been conducting a review of its Irish operations since last spring, received €2 billon from Lloyds on December 17 - just weeks before the end of its financial year.
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DAA TO CUT CHARGES IN EFFORT TO LURE NEW AIRLINES - The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) is planning to offer steep discounts on passenger charges to airlines that launch new routes this year as it bids to reverse a 13% decline in passenger traffic in 2009, says the Irish Times. It is understood that 39 airlines and other interested parties have been invited by the DAA to a meeting at Dublin airport on Wednesday, at which airport director Bob Hilliard will outline its latest financial incentives. The DAA plans to extend the discounts on its route incentive scheme for new short-haul services from Dublin. Previously, the discounts - a marketing tool commonly used by airports globally to attract new business - focused on cities not traditionally served from the capital, such as Athens in Greece, Helsinki in Finland and a number of non-EU destinations. The DAA hopes to incentivise Ryanair and Aer Lingus, who between them control about 75% of traffic at the airport, to fly into cities in Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain not currently connected to Dublin. In addition, the DAA has extended the discounts to cover five rather than three years.
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O'LEAY HITS BACK AT OFT'S 'INAPPROPRIATE' ATTACKS - After being described as "puerile" and "almost childish" by the Office of Fair Trading, it was only a matter of time before Europe's most combative airline boss retaliated. Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary duly obliges today, but with an uncharacteristically formal response - accusing the regulator of bias and of failing to end allegedly dubious practices at other carriers. In a two-page letter to the OFT's chief executive John Fingleton, copied to The London Independent, he said his airline wished to register its "deep concern and protest" about "inappropriate and inaccurate comments" given by Mr Fingleton in an interview with this newspaper. "The false claims attributed to you in this article are indicative of a continuing and inappropriate bias by the OFT against Ryanair, which is the UK's largest international passenger airline," Mr O'Leary wrote. In a frank interview, Mr Fingleton accused Ryanair of "almost taunting" customers by levying a £5 fee on credit card payments. Airlines are legally obliged to advertise compulsory fees up front to allow customers to shop around, but Ryanair only adds its booking fee at the end of the booking process, on the basis that passengers can avoid it by using prepaid Mastercard.
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COLD SNAP LEAVES PORTS IN A JAM - The cold snap that hit the northern hemisphere, added to China's appetite for commodities, has created some of the worst traffic jams ever seen at ports handling bulk cargo, says the Financial Times. Ships were queuing for an average of 27½ days to collect coal at Dalrymple Bay in Queensland, Australia, according to Global Ports, the analyst. Simon Francis, Global Ports managing director, said 172 Capesize ships, the largest carriers of bulk commodities, were stuck in queues - nearly a fifth of the 960 Capesizes afloat. Many smaller vessels are also queuing. The hold-ups, rather than pushing up shipowners' earnings by cutting supply of dry bulk ships were doing no more than preventing price falls, according to many involved. Capacity has been added in the past six months as 100 Capesize ships have entered the market, either new or as conversions from obsolete single-hulled oil tankers.
