Figures from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have revealed that the three most complained about British banks are Barclays, Lloyds and Santander. According to the FSA, Barclays received more than a quarter of a million complaints in the first half of 2011. Lloyds received 181,907 complaints in the six month period, while Santander had 168,888 [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is regarded as a barometer of British retailing, has reported a marginal increase in sales and said trading conditions are “extremely challenging”. The renowned employee-owned chain, which owns the Waitrose supermarket chain, said sales rose 1% on a like-for-like basis in the six month period to 30 July. However, across [...]
Housebuilder Bovis has today reported profits more than doubled in the six months to the end of June as a result of cost-cutting and rising house prices. The company said pre-tax profits surged to £8.1 million in the six month period compared with £3.5 million in the same period a year earlier, while revenue rose [...]
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has today unveiled a loss of £1.4 billion for the six months to the end of June. The bank, which is 84% owned by the taxpayer, said its exposure to the Greek debt crisis and costs relating to the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) pushed it into a [...]
Banking giant Lloyds Banking Group has today said its first half profits were hit by costs relating to its mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). The controversial insurance has been a hot topic for some time now and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) introduced a review of the insurance after millions of policies were mis-sold [...]
London-based emerging markets bank, Standard Chartered, has today posted half-year pre-tax profits of $3.6 billion (£2.2 billion) – a rise of 17% compared with the same period a year ago. The figures represented its ninth consecutive first half of record profits and beat expectations of $3.47 billion. The bank, which has a strong presence in [...]
Nationalised lender Northern Rock Plc has today unveiled its results for the half-year. The crisis-torn bank, which was the first victim of the credit crunch, said pre-tax profits for the six months to 30 June totalled £68.5 million, against a loss of £142.6 million in the same period a year ago. However, lending was lower [...]
Spanish banking giant Santander has today revealed its first half profits were hit by costs relating to its mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). The controversial insurance has been a hot topic for some time now and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) introduced a review of the insurance after millions of policies were mis-sold and [...]
Housebuilder Redrow, which is the fifth largest housebuilder in the UK by volume, has today reported a profit for the six-month period to 31 December. The company said net income for the period was £3.5 million against a loss of £6.3 million a year earlier. Meanwhile, the company based in St. David’s Park, Wales, said [...]
Housebuilder Barratt Developments has issued its first half trading update, delivering a mixed picture. The firm, which is one of the largest housebuilders by volume, said completions fell to 4,832 units from 5,053 in the first half, as private completions dropped. Revenues were unchanged at £875 million but its operating margin grew to 5% from [...]
Britain’s largest building society, Nationwide, has today posted a surge in first half profits. Nationwide said pre-tax profits for the six months to September 30 were £147 million, up from £117 million in the same period a year ago. The company, which is the country’s second-biggest mortgage lender, added that bad debts dropped by 44% [...]
British retailing giant, Marks and Spencer (M&S) today reported half-year pre-tax profits of £348.8 million in the 26 weeks to October 2 – a rise of almost 17% compared with a year earlier. The 126-year-old retailer which sells clothes, food and homewares, said earnings after tax grew by 16.4% to £261.2 million Sales, meanwhile, increased [...]
Ilford in Essex is the leading property sales hotspot in England and Wales, with an 85% rise in the number of homes sold in the first half of 2010, compared with the same period of 2009. Research from Halifax has identified Croydon and Maidenhead as the runners up, with sales rising 73% and 71% respectively. [...]
Banking giant Lloyds has received the highest number of complaints in the first half of 2010 with 288,717 gripes. Figures from City regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), said Barclays and Santander were second and third in the complaints league, with 250,667 and 244,978 complaints respectively. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which like Lloyds [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is regarded as a barometer of British retailing, has today posted a 28% rise in first half profits. The renowned employee-owned department store said pre-tax profit came in at £111.2 million, compared with the £24.2 million in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, sales grew 12.4% to £3.81 billion [...]
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has today said complaints rose in the first half of 2010. According to the FOS, it received 84,212 new complaints between 1 January and 30 June 2010 – with more than half of these about the top five banks. Lloyds Banking Group, which is 43% owned by the taxpayer, was [...]
Housebuilder Bovis Homes has today claimed the coalition Government’s spending cuts and tax hikes have dented consumer confidence. Its claim comes as the company reported a pre-tax profit of £3.5 million in the first half of 2010, compared with a loss of £8.6 million for the same period last year, Meanwhile, it added it planned [...]
Coventry Building Society, which is scheduled to finalise its merger with smaller rival Stroud & Swindon next month, has today announced record results for the six months ending June 30. The UK’s third largest building society said pre-tax profit grew by 20% to £43.5 million – compared with £36.2 million in the same period a [...]
As part of its restructuring plan, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is preparing to sell its payment processing company, WorldPay, just days after it announced the sale of its Williams & Glyn’s branch network. Private equity firms, Advent International and Bain Capital, have been in talks to buy WorldPay since last month, according to [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 83% owned by the taxpayer, today announced a profit for the six months ended June, boosted by falling charges for bad debt. The bank posted a net profit of £9 million ($14.3 million) compared with a £1.04 billion net loss in the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile, [...]
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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