Credit ratings agencies have added to Bradford & Bingley’s (B&B) woes after the lender has been downgraded by Fitch Ratings from BBB+ status to BBB-, only one notch above ‘speculative grade‘, or informally known as ‘junk’. Meanwhile, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the lender from A-2 to A-3. Earlier this week, there were reports that the [...]
Shares in Bradford & Bingley (B&B) rose this morning amid speculation that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been holding talks with potential buyers. In early trading, shares in the UK’s biggest buy-to-let lender rose 15% to 32p. Shares in B&B have lost over 90% in value over the last year. Like other banks, B&B [...]
Troubled buy-to-let lender, Bradford & Bingley (B&B), has announced that Mark Stevens, its sales director, has resigned. The news comes at a bad time for the UK’s largest buy-to-let lender after it recently posted a loss of £26.7 million for the six months to the end of June. Commenting on the resignation, newly-appointed chief executive, [...]
The UK’s biggest buy-to-let lender, Bradford & Bingley (B&B), has posted a loss of £26.7 million for the six months to the end of June. The result compares with a pre-tax profit of £180.4 million in the same period of 2007. Credit impairment charges for the six months rose to £74.6 million, up from £5.3 [...]
Troubled buy-to-let lender, Bradford & Bingley (B&B), confirmed last week that 27.8% of its new shares, which were on offer at 55p each, have been taken up by investors. This left underwriters, Citigroup and UBS, to place the remaining 597 million new shares, worth £328.3 million, by last Friday. However, the underwriters were left holding [...]
Troubled buy-to-let lender, Bradford & Bingley (B&B), has confirmed that 27.8% of its new shares, which were on offer at 55p each, have been taken up by investors. Consequently, underwriters, Citigroup and UBS will have to place the remaining 597 million new shares, worth £328.3 million, by Friday. Citigroup and UBS are being supported by [...]
UK troubled lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) held its extraordinary general meeting today in Sheffield and its shareholders are backing the £400 million rights issue to shore up its balance sheet. Existing shareholders, who voted in favour of the rights issue, will now have the opportunity to purchase new shares. B&B, which is the UK’s [...]
Struggling former building society, Bradford & Bingley (B&B), is to be rescued by British banks due to pressure from the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The regulator has been taking responsibility for ensuring that B&B’s capital-raising does not head towards disaster after the criticism it received for neglecting to foresee the problems that led to the [...]
Bradford & Bingley (B&B) saw its shares plunge to an all-time low of 42p today, well below the bank’s rights issue price of 55p, heightening fears about its fund-raising plans. This is just another blow to the lender after credit agency, Moody’s, cut its rating from A3 to Baa1, which resulted in US private equity [...]
At the end of last week, Bradford & Bingley (B&B) announced it had been rescued by a group of UK investors, after US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) pulled out of a deal, after credit rating agency, Moody’s, downgraded the lender’s debt. TPG walked away from a deal to inject £179 million into [...]
Struggling lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) has been rescued by a group of UK investors after US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) pulled out of a deal, after credit rating agency, Moody’s, downgraded the lender’s debt. This now means that B&B has the lowest credit rating out of all the major British banks [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Resolution is in discussions with leading investors at Bradford & Bingley (B&B) about injecting £400 million ($787 million) into the troubled UK lender. B&B shares were up 15% in early trading today following the news. B&B is subject to criticism with its 4 biggest shareholders, Prudential’s M&G, Standard Life, Legal & General and Insight and [...]
Bradford & Bingley (B&B) has today raised mortgage rates for new borrowers. The lender, which funds one-quarter of the UK buy-to-let market, blamed the increased cost of borrowing on the money markets for hikes of between 0.05% and 0.55% on its range of loans. The move comes despite yesterday’s decision by the Bank of England [...]
Shares in Bradford & Bingley (B&B) tumbled by 30% this morning after the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, issued a profit warning. It made an £8 million pre-tax loss in the first four months of 2008, compared with £108 million profits the same time last year. B&B said problems with its buy-to-let mortgages as homeowners struggle [...]
In the last week, Bradford & Bingley (B&B) has maintained that it has sufficient cash on its books to take it through until the start of 2009. However, if current market conditions continue, it may have to follow Royal Bank of Scotland and raise funds through a rights issue to improve its financial position. At [...]
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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