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June 30, 2008
by Kay Murchie
A joint survey, conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has established that a further 10,000 City jobs will go in the financial services sector over the next 3 months, due to the ongoing credit crunch.
In the previous quarter, between 10,000 and 11,000 jobs were lost as a result of the credit crunch.
Profitability in the sector declined ...
by Kay Murchie
New monthly figures have highlighted that consumer confidence in the UK continues to fall.
Households are worried about their financial future more now than during the last recession. Rising inflation, utility and food costs means families are struggling and are cutting back on spending.
The fall in confidence has been highlighted in the GfK NOP Consumer Confidence Barometer. Figures showed that the pace of economic ...
by Kay Murchie
Research from life insurer, Scottish Widows, has discovered that one in three Britons is unable to save for their retirement.
The survey, which monitors the retirement provision of people aged 30 and over, highlights the fact that many people are worried about how they will manage financially when they retire.
The survey, which was carried out by YouGov in March ...
by Kay Murchie
Figures released by the Bank of England today revealed that 42,000 home loans were approved in May, which is a 27% decline compared with April and represents a 64% fall compared with 12 months ago.
The Bank said the figures were the lowest since it began recording the data in 1993. The figures were also lower than many analysts’ expected.
Since the ...
by Kay Murchie
Lloyds TSB is giving children, as young as 11, debit cards without their parents consent.
The news raises fears that the cards could being used to buy cigarettes, alcohol and pornography over the internet.
In the past, children aged 11 to 15 who hold current accounts were limited to debit cards that could only be used in bank branches or ...
June 29, 2008
by Kay Murchie
Financier Clive Cowdery, who runs Resolution investment group, has walked away from Bradford & Bingley (B&B) after he planned to pump £400 million into the troubled UK lender.
Following the news, shares in B&B plummeted 19% to an all-time low of 64½p on Friday.
Mr Cowdery, who is believed to be worth £130 million, built up a 2.9% stake in B&B and ...
by Kay Murchie
Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey is close to receiving a huge cash injection in a bid to shore up its balance sheet.
The rescue is being co-ordinated by investment bank UBS, and JP Morgan Cazenove.
The agreement, which is believed to raise as much as £500 million could be reached by Wednesday, at which time a trading update is due, which is expected to be ...
June 27, 2008
by Gill Montia
Latest figures from the Land Registry show that house prices in England and Wales remained static during May, compared to the previous month.
The data may not be the most recent available on the UK housing market but it is the most accurate because it is based on completed transactions.
During the month, the average house price stood at £183,266 which is ...
by Kay Murchie
Earlier this week, Barclays announced it was to raise £4.5 billion through a discounted share placing in a bid to shore up its balance sheet.
However, unlike its rivals, Barclays is not raising the funds via a rights issue and is the only major high street bank avoiding a cash call through this method.
Rather, it has launched a share issue that ...
by Kay Murchie
The Institutional Voting Information Service (IVIS), which is operated by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned there are “breaches of sound governance” in the proposals for Bradford & Bingley's (B&B) rights issue and the sale of a 23% stake to Texas Pacific Group (TPG).
The IVIS has placed an ‘amber top’ on the proposals, which means it ...
by Kay Murchie
According to figures from APACS, the UK payments association, consumers have not been won over by contactless payment cards.
The cards allow consumers to buy small-ticket items on a credit or debit card without actually having to hand any plastic over or enter a pin.
The cards have already been launched in London but Apacs show that just 15,000 transactions were made ...
by Brian Turner
HBOS shares have again fallen below their rights issue price, leading to concerns as to how successful the take up will be.
At trading on the FTSE this morning, HBOS was trading as low as 260.0, almost a full 15 points below the rights issue offering price of 275p per share.
At the time of reporting, the price has risen to 265.50, but ...
June 26, 2008
by Elaine Frei
London’s equities markets saw substantial declines Thursday, led by the media sector and banks, with the FTSE 100 down 2.61 percent to 5,518.2 as the FTSE 250 dropped 2.29 percent to 9,107.3.
BSkyB (LSE: BSY) and Thomson Reuters (LSE: TRIL; NYSE: TRI; NAS: TRIN; TSX: TRI) pulled the media sector lower after broker downgrades, while banks declined after a downgrade ...
by Gill Montia
Homeowners sitting out the credit crisis rather than taking their chances with a "For Sale" board are turning to home improvements.
Research from personal loan specialist, GE Money, has revealed that property owners across the UK are improving and extending their dwellings as an alternative to entering a stagnating property market where according to property website, Rightmove, homes for sale now outnumber buyers ...
by Gill Montia
Three leading lenders have announced yet another round of interest rate rises.
Bradford & Bingley (B&B), First Direct and the Co-operative Bank have all increased the cost of their fixed-rate loans, as the rates at which lenders borrow on the money markets continue to rise.
B&B has hiked rates on its residential fixed-rate mortgages by between 0.5% and 0.7%.
Meanwhile, its lifetime variable mortgage ...
by Gill Montia
The Co-operative Bank has launched a fee free three-year tracker mortgage that is being made available to Co-operative Bank current account holders only.
The loan comes with an interest rate of 5.99% (BoEBR (Bank of England Base Rate) + 0.99%) and a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of up to 75%.
Those will less equity in their property can opt for a 90% LTV deal, ...
by Kay Murchie
Fortis, the Belgian-Dutch bank, has announced fundraising plans of €1.5 billion (£1.2 billion). It said current circumstances necessitate these measures.
Following the announcement, its shares dropped by 6.9% in Brussels trading this morning.
The bank, like many others, needs extra capital to ride out the credit squeeze. It also requires the cash to fund its €24 billion acquisition and integration of parts ...
June 25, 2008
by Kay Murchie
Barclays is the latest British bank in a fundraising move to improve its balance sheet.
The bank announced it plans to raise £4.5 billion ($8.8 billion) through a discounted share placing. However, unlike its rivals, Barclays is not issuing the new shares at a massive discount.
The plan is to sell shares to new investors such as the Qatar Investment Authority and Sumitomo ...
by Gill Montia
New borrowers taking out two-year fixed-rate mortgages now face paying interest at over 7%.
According to Moneyfacts, the financial information website, rates on this highly popular type of home loan are at their highest since February 1997.
Five years ago, two-year fixed mortgage rates were around 4% and the increase means that the monthly cost of repaying an average £155,000 loan ...
June 24, 2008
by Elaine Frei
In London on Tuesday, the FTSE 100 was 0.57 percent lower to 5,634.7 while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.38 percent to 9,192.3.
House builders Taylor Wimpy (LSE: TW) and Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) led the sector lower with declines of 12 percent and 11 percent respectively after the British Bankers Association reported that mortgage approvals were down 20 percent ...
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A joint survey, conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has established that a further 10,000 City jobs will go in the financial services sector over the next 3 months, due to the ongoing credit crunch.
In the previous quarter, between 10,000 and 11,000 jobs were lost as a result of the credit crunch.
Profitability in the sector declined ...
Financier Clive Cowdery, who runs Resolution investment group, has walked away from Bradford & Bingley (B&B) after he planned to pump £400 million into the troubled UK lender.
Following the news, shares in B&B plummeted 19% to an all-time low of 64½p on Friday.
Mr Cowdery, who is believed to be worth £130 million, built up a 2.9% stake in B&B and ...
Latest figures from the Land Registry show that house prices in England and Wales remained static during May, compared to the previous month.
The data may not be the most recent available on the UK housing market but it is the most accurate because it is based on completed transactions.
During the month, the average house price stood at £183,266 which is ...
London’s equities markets saw substantial declines Thursday, led by the media sector and banks, with the FTSE 100 down 2.61 percent to 5,518.2 as the FTSE 250 dropped 2.29 percent to 9,107.3.
BSkyB (LSE: BSY) and Thomson Reuters (LSE: TRIL; NYSE: TRI; NAS: TRIN; TSX: TRI) pulled the media sector lower after broker downgrades, while banks declined after a downgrade ...
In London on Tuesday, the FTSE 100 was 0.57 percent lower to 5,634.7 while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.38 percent to 9,192.3.
House builders Taylor Wimpy (LSE: TW) and Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) led the sector lower with declines of 12 percent and 11 percent respectively after the British Bankers Association reported that mortgage approvals were down 20 percent ...