News Tag: 2009
March 10, 2010
State-owned bank Northern Rock has today announced losses for the 2009 year fell to £258 million, compared with £1.36 billion in the previous year.
Despite the loss, the Newcastle-based bank said it is awarding staff £14.9m in bonuses but Gary Hoffman, the chief executive of Northern Rock, is waiving his payout.
Northern Rock said Mr Hoffman’s long-term incentive plan would only pay out after ...
Northern Rock sees losses narrow
by Kay Murchie
March 4, 2010
Persimmon Homes managed 8,976 legal completions in 2009, compared with 10,202 in 2008, with an average selling price of £160,513 (down from £172,994 last year).
However, Britain's largest house builder says it has a strong forward sales book of around £900 million, up 29% on 2008.
Ninety new sites are scheduled to open in the first half of 2010, compared with 90 during ...
Persimmon reports strong forward sales book
by Gill Montia
March 3, 2010
London-based bank Standard Chartered today announced a rise in pre-tax profits - meeting analysts expectations.
The bank, which has a strong presence in Asia, said pre-tax profits in 2009 were £3.4 billion ($5.15 billion), a rise of 13% on 2008 figures.
Meanwhile, revenue was up 9% to £10.14 billion ($15.18 billion).
However, while many other banks have opted not to take their multi-million pound bonuses ...
Standard Chartered profits surge 13%
by Kay Murchie
February 25, 2010
In its second six-monthly set of complaints data relating to individual financial firms, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has today said complaints rose by 18% in the second half of 2009.
According to the FOS, it received 82,136 complaints between 1 July and 31 December 2009 - a rise of 12,295 compared with the first half of the year.
Meanwhile, in the second ...
Ombudsman complaints continue to rise
by Kay Murchie
February 23, 2010
Bonuses for Wall Street bankers grew by 17% to $20 billion (£13.2 billion) in 2009, according to figures from the New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
The figures come at a time when US taxpayers are bailing out banks and Mr DiNapoli said: "For most Americans, these huge bonuses are a bitter pill and hard to comprehend."
He added: "Taxpayers bailed ...
Wall Street bonuses surge 17% on year
by Kay Murchie
February 17, 2010
Latest UK house price statistics from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) show the value of a typical home up 2.9% in December, compared to a year earlier.
The month saw a 0.8% increase on November, taking the average house price to £200,307 and completing a 2.9% gain for the final quarter of 2009.
However, the three-month ...
Official figures show 2.9% house price gain for 2009
by Gill Montia
February 11, 2010
Repossessions fell 13% to 10,200 in the final three months of 2009, compared to the previous quarter.
The figure, which includes home-owner and buy-to-let mortgage borrowers, was also 2% down on the same period of 2008, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
However, for 2009 as a whole, mortgage lenders possessed around 46,000 homes, up 15% on a year earlier but well ...
46,000 homes repossessed in 2009
by Gill Montia
February 9, 2010
Having studied the latest figures from the Insolvency Service, Grant Thornton is predicting a glut of company failures in England and Wales during 2010.
Last year saw a record 4,161 companies placed in administration (up 1.7% on 2008) and the accountancy firm warns: "There is no light at the end of the tunnel for troubled companies that are relying on ...
Growth too slow to halt record company administrations
by Gill Montia
February 8, 2010
According to a report by Capita Registrars Research, UK companies paid out £57 billion to investors last year - 15% less than in the previous year - resulting in a loss of £10 billion.
Furthermore, the research found that investors are unlikely to fare any better this year because of a weak economic recovery.
The report found that those with shares in the banking ...
Shareholders see dividends plummet
by Kay Murchie
February 4, 2010
Spanish banking giant Santander has today revealed a 13% rise in fourth-quarter net profit to €2.2 billion (£1.9 billion).
Meanwhile the bank, which is the second largest banking group in the world after HSBC, said gross income grew almost 24% to €10 billion.
For the 2009 year as a whole, net profit was up 1% to €8.94 billion, with good performances in continental Europe, Latin ...
Santander profit grows 13%
by Kay Murchie
Customers cite ethical concerns for switching banks
by David Masters
January 28, 2010
Brits have more than doubled the amount they are saving in the past 12 months, according to research published this week.
An investigation by Birmingham Midshires found Brits are saving 136% more per quarter compared to this time last year.
In the three months to January 2010, the average UK consumer saved £776.
This is compared to the £329 saved on average during ...
Brits saving double compared to January 2009
by David Masters
Positive shift in mortgage affordability
by Gill Montia
Equity release holding steady
by Gill Montia
January 26, 2010
Mortgage lending by Britain's High Street banks strengthened slightly in December, although the end of the stamp duty holiday is likely to have prompted a surge in completions before the New Year.
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) reported net lending of £3.5 billion during the month, up from £3.4 billion in November and showing an annual rise of 4.6%.
December approvals for house purchases ...
Mortgage lending stronger in December
by Gill Montia
January 22, 2010
Ethical bank Triodos reported a record year for its UK operations in 2009, with lending and commitments growing by 73%.
During 2009 the bank loaned nearly £250 million to organisations in the UK delivering social, environmental or cultural benefits.
Bevis Watts, the bank's head of business banking, said the surge in lending for 2009 was "phenomenal".
Environmental enterprise was a strong growth area for the bank, with lending to environmental ...
Ethical bank Triodos reports “phenomenal” growth
by David Masters
January 21, 2010
Lenders approved an estimated £13.7 billion in home loans during December, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported.
Gross lending showed a 14% rise on November and the figure was also 3% up on December 2008.
Furthermore, the rise put the annual comparison in positive territory for the first time since October 2007; however, gross lending was still at its lowest since December ...
Mortgage lending skips seasonal dip
by Gill Montia
January 13, 2010
The Federal Statistics Office has today revealed that the German economy, which is Europe’s largest, contracted by a record 5% in 2009 - the first time in six years the economy had shrunk and the deepest since World War II.
The record contraction was due to a slump in demand in exports and investment.
In 2009, exports plunged by 14.7% on the ...
German economy contracts record 5% in 2009
by Kay Murchie
