Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank, has announced it will embark on a €10 billion (£8.1 billion) rights issue to take over retail bank, Postbank. The announcement comes just a week or so after the National Bank of Greece launched a rights issue. More lenders in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy are expected to follow suit [...]
Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank, is set to embark on a €9 billion (£7.4 billion) rights issue to strengthen its balance sheet. Shares in the bank were down more than 5% in pre-market trade following the announcement. According to analysts, the cash call is set to be the first in a series of fundraisings by [...]
The Bank of Ireland has today reported a loss of €3 billion (£2.6 billion) in the first nine months of its financial year, with write-downs totalling €4 billion. In a statement, the bank said: “Revenues remain under pressure, in particular due to higher funding costs as we continue to extend the maturity profile of our [...]
Bus and train operator National Express has today announced plans to raise £360 million via a rights issue, which will strengthen its balance sheet as it struggles under a mountain of debt of £1.5 billion. Shares in the transport group lost 7.9% at 311p in early trading today. Shares in the group have lost almost [...]
Lloyds Banking Group is reported to be embarking on a massive fundraising scheme, in order to repair its balance sheet which was battered following the takeover of rival HBOS, as well as avoiding participating in the Government’s Asset Protection Scheme (APS) . The bank, which is 43% owned by the taxpayer, is understood to be [...]
It has been confirmed this morning that West Bromwich Building Society has agreed a deal that will see the 160-year-old institution saved from collapse. The deal will see £182.5 million of subordinated debt converted into capital to strengthen the mutual’s balance sheet. The society said the new deal will “materially strengthen the society’s core tier [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that the estimate of the losses across the world inflicted by banks as a result of the credit crunch is going to hit $4 trillion. This confirms the estimates that were first published in The Times, which is far larger than the initial forecast of less than $1 [...]
HSBC, which is Europe’s largest bank, said shareholders have bought 96.6% of the new shares offered in its £12.5 billion rights issue – the largest ever held in Britain. The shares were offered at £2.54 each – a heavily discounted price from Friday’s close of £4.35 each. The remaining shares are expected to be sold [...]
Shares in Barclays have surged this morning on the news that the Financial Services Authority has given the bank’s balance sheet a clean bill of health, after a stress-test revealed the bank will not need fresh capital, should it sign up to the Government‘s Asset Protection Scheme. Barclays stock gained 8.4% today to 151.9p and [...]
It has now been confirmed that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has sold its 4.3% stake in Bank of China for £1.6 billion. RBS sold all of its 10.8 billion Bank of China shares at a price of 1.71 Hong Kong dollars per share. The news is confirmation that the bank is looking to trim [...]
Last week, Barclays announced it was looking to raise £7.3 billion, primarily from Middle East investors. The bank has secured a £5.8 billion cash injection from investors in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s Royal Family, is investing up to £3.5 billion in the bank, while [...]
Barclays has declined financial assistance from the UK Government and is instead looking to raise £7.3 billion, primarily from Middle East investors. The bank has secured a £5.8 billion cash injection from investors in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and once the deal is finalised, the Middle Eastern investors will hold a 32% stake in Barclays. [...]
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is planning to shore up its balance sheet by raising 990 billion yen (£6.85 billion, $10.5 billion) by issuing new shares. Japan’s largest bank is to issue common stock of 600 billion yen and 390 billion yen of preferred shares. The news came after Japan’s Nikkei index closed 6% down – [...]
Swiss banking giant, UBS, is the latest European bank to receive help from its Government, in a bid to reduce the risk to the bank’s balance sheet. The Swiss bank is raising $5.3 billion (£3 billion) from the Government, who will take a 9.3% stake in the bank. Meanwhile, it will be able to transfer [...]
Barclays has improved its balance sheet today after it revealed it has offloaded its life insurance unit to Swiss Re in a deal worth £753 million ($1.48 billion), subject to regulatory approval. Swiss Re is paying £753 million in cash for Barclays Life, which manages £6.8 billion of assets on behalf of 760,000 policyholders. Swiss [...]
It has been confirmed this morning that only 8.29% of shareholders of HBOS have signed up to the £4 billion rights issue. This amount was marginally worse than the market was expecting after Sunday papers suggested yesterday that the amount was a little as 10%. HBOS, which is the UK’s largest mortgage lender, will still [...]
Swiss banking giant, UBS, has revealed plans for a SwFr16 billion (£7.9 billion) rights issue in a move to shore up its balance sheet. The announcement from the Swiss bank, which is the biggest European casualty of the credit crunch so far, comes just one day after it sold some of its mortgage-backed securities to [...]
Buy-to-let specialist, Bradford & Bingley, has today raised £300 million in an emergency rights issue to shore up its balance sheet. It is the latest UK bank to ask its shareholders for additional funding and confirmed it would raise the £300 million in a rights issue, which offers existing investors the opportunity to purchase additional [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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