European Press Roundup: Barclays Scraps Staff-Monitoring Software

In Europe today, German insurer Allianz posted profit that beat analysts' expectations, while education company Pearson reported pretax profit for last year that more than halved. Read about the above topics on Dow Jones Newswires or WSJ.com.

In Other Media...

U.K. lender Barclays has scrapped a monitoring system installed on its staff computers following unease from employees and criticism from privacy campaigners and human-resources professionals. The software, which was part of a pilot at parts of Barclays's investment-banking division, tracked the time employees spent at their desks. -BBC

Insurers face claims of up to 425 million pounds ($547.8 million) from two February storms in the U.K., according to an estimate by analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Storm Dennis last weekend caused one of the worst winter floods in the U.K. in recent years following damage in the wake of Storm Ciara a week earlier. -The Guardian

The Spanish government is considering legislation that would reform subcontracting practices in the country. Under the proposed rules, companies would be limited in who they can consider a subcontractor, and they could be required to hire these employees directly. -Expansion

The works council of Airbus's defense-and-space division is pushing back against planned job cuts in the unit, saying it must not be restructured at the expense of the workforce. Airbus announced it would cut 2,362 of the approximately 34,000 jobs in the division. Germany, which currently has around 12,000 employees, is to be the most affected. -Der Spiegel

Italy's industrial sales fell 3% in December compared with the previous month, while orders rose by 1.4%, statistics agency Istat said. On year, sales declined 1.4%, while orders grew 6%. -Il Sole 24 Ore

The German e-scooter rental company Tier has increased a previously announced financing round to more than $100 million. Funding comes from investors such as RTP Global and Novator, and the company will use the capital to finance expansion and potential takeovers among other things. -Handelsblatt

Write to Barcelona editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 21, 2020 07:29 ET (12:29 GMT)

Allianz Ag Muenchen Namen (PK) (USOTC:ALIZF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Dec 2024 to Jan 2025