Figures today have revealed Ireland’s economy continued to see growth in the April to June period. According to the Central Statistics Office, the economy grew by a better than expected 1.6% in the three-month period and this follows a revised 1.9% growth rate in the first quarter. This represents the first time since 2006 that [...]
Official figures today from Statistics Iceland revealed the economy contracted 1.5% in the October the December period. The figures come after the economy grew for the first time in the third quarter after contracting for seven consecutive quarters. The small economy of Iceland only emerged from its deep recession in the third quarter of last [...]
Ireland’s Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, announced last night that his Government has made a formal request for an emergency bailout. In the euro zone’s second emergency rescue this year, Ireland will receive between €80 and €90 billion but the country’s finance minister, Brian Lenihan, said a precise figure has not been determined. The loan will [...]
Irish finance minister, Brian Lenihan, has today said the country is preparing to make a formal request for an emergency bailout. The exact amount of the loan, which will come from the EU rescue fund, which was established by European Governments and the International Monetary Fund after the Greek debt crisis earlier this year, was [...]
According to the Governor of the Irish central bank, Patrick Honohan, Ireland is expected to accept a “very substantial loan”. The news comes as speculation has been mounting all week as to whether Ireland would accept emergency funding – something which its Government continues to deny, insisting it is fully funded until at least the [...]
Today’s results from Barclays has reinforced that the banking sector is in recovery mode after the bank reported a 44% rise in profits. The bank, which is one of the few not to have received any financial help from the Government, said pre-tax profits came in at £3.95 billion for the six months to the [...]
Fitch Ratings cut Spain’s credit rating from the maximum AAA to AA+ on Friday and the news comes just a week after one of the country’s banks, CajaSur, was bailed out. Standard & Poor’s cut Spain’s credit rating a month ago and comes as the country has been forced to implement tough austerity measures in [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a severe warning to the Spanish economy suggesting it needs “far-reaching” reforms to ensure its recovery. The economy, which is the euro zone’s fourth largest, exited recession in the first quarter of the year after experiencing growth of just 0.1% – ending a run of seven consecutive quarters [...]
Spanish banking shares have been hit today after Spanish bank, CajaSur, was bailed out at the weekend. The Bank of Spain has taken over the running of CajaSur after a proposed merger between CajaSur and savings bank, Unicaja, collapsed at the end of last week. CajaSur, which is one of Spain’s largest regional lenders, was [...]
In its twice-yearly Financial Stability Report, the Bank of England said that over the last six months, the financial sector has become “significantly more stable”. While the Bank acknowledged that commercial banks still had more to do to improve their long-term stability, action taken to strengthen the sector, such as historically low interest rates and [...]
Crisis-torn Northern Rock is to be split into two, after receiving the necessary approval from the European Union (EU). Northern Rock collapsed at the onset of the credit crunch in autumn 2007 after savers staged a nationwide run on the bank. It was then nationalised in February 2008. The plan is for bank to be [...]
The British pound plunged to a 7½ year low against the US dollar yesterday amid concerns about the state of the UK banking sector. Plummeting to below $1.40, the pound hit its weakest rate against the dollar since 2001. Analysts suggested the latest bail-out of British banks prompted a pound sell-off, whilst others blamed the [...]
HSBC, Britain’s largest bank, has reported a 28% decline in first-half pre-tax profits to £5.1 billion ($10.2 billion). The news from HSBC follows that from other banks including Alliance & Leicester, who last week announced that half-year profits have nearly been wiped out after taking a £209 million hit on risky assets and higher funding [...]
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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