Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 84% owned by the taxpayer, has today proved it is on the road to recovery after reporting operating profits of £713 million in the first three months of the year, compared with a £1.35 billion loss in the same period a year earlier. After one-off costs, which included [...]
Swiss banking giant UBS has today reported first-quarter net profit of SwFr2.2 billion boosted by a strong performance in its investment banking division. The earnings beat analysts forecasts of SwFr2.0 billion, according to a poll by economics newswire AWP. UBS is among one of the worst hit victims of the credit crunch due to its [...]
Lloyds Banking Group, which is 41% owned by the taxpayer, today said it has returned to profit during the first quarter of 2010, as a result of a reduction in bad debt. The banking giant also said it expects to continue to be profitable for the remainder of the year. The announcement comes just a [...]
US search engine giant, Google, said revenues surged 23% in the first quarter of 2010 to $6.77 billion, compared with $5.51 billion in the same period a year ago – the greatest revenue growth since the third quarter of 2008. Net income soared 37% to $1.96 billion on $6.06 per share from $1.42 billion on [...]
Banking giant, Lloyds Banking Group, has said it will return to profitability in 2010. Last month the bank, which is 41% owned by the taxpayer, posted a full-year loss of £6.3 billion. It was hit by bad debts following the acquisition of HBOS, which it took over at the height of the financial crisis in [...]
Fears over US consumer spending were raised today after retailing giant Wal-Mart reported weaker than expected sales. The company, which is the world’s largest retailer, reported a 22% rise in its fiscal fourth-quarter profit, but sales at stores open at least 12 months disappointed the market. Quarterly sales fell to $113.65 billion – slightly below [...]
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% [...]
Swedish budget retailer, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), has today announced it is to open 240 new stores this year in Europe, Asia and the US after it posted a better than expected 21% rise in Q4 profits. The fashion chain also said it was about to enter the Israeli market, with outlets in Tel Aviv, [...]
Despite reporting the sixth consecutive monthly rise in UK house prices in October, Nationwide Building Society has given a downbeat forecast for the market. In delivering half-year results, the lender’s chief executive, Graham Beale, warned: “The growth in house prices over recent months appears to be driven by lack of supply, and growth in unemployment [...]
US computer giant Dell today posted a 54% fall in quarterly profit. Net profit at the company was $337 million (£202 million) in the three months to October, compared with $727 million in the same period a year earlier. The news sent shares in the company down 6% as the company continues to lose market [...]
Caterpillar, which is the world’s largest construction and mining equipment maker, said today it is to eliminate 2,500 US jobs. However, the construction giant highlighted that signs of economic recovery has meant it has rehired more than 500 workers that it had previously laid off. The 2,500 staff who are losing their jobs had previously [...]
Apple has benefited from the popularity of iPhones and posted a net profit of $1.67 billion (£1 billion) in the three months to 26 September – a 47% rise compared with a year earlier. The California-based technology giant, which has bucked the trend in the economic downturn, exceeded analysts expectations after sales grew 25% in [...]
Eco-friendly bank Triodos posted a 50% rise in profit for the first half of this year. Net profit at the Dutch bank for the six months ending 30 June 2009 was €5.7 million, up from €3.7 million in the first half of 2008. Deposits at the bank increased 15%, growth which Triodos believes reflects disillusionment [...]
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) warned this week that the UK’s economy will not start recovery until 2011. Stephen Hester, chief executive, expects unemployment to continue rising. The journey to economic recovery will be a “marathon” rather than a “sprint”, Hester said. “I believe we are coming out of the problems but when we [...]
Insurance giant Axa has announced plans to cut 350 jobs despite a 2% rise in its UK profits. The insurer said the jobs are being axed to streamline costs and ensure it emerges “fitter and stronger” from the recession. Redundancies will be made at Axa Insurance UK’s life business unit, which has offices across the [...]
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is the last bank to publish figures this week, has reported a pre-tax profit of £15 million for the first half of 2009. However, the bank also said it had written off £7.5 billion of bad debts during the period. The bank is 70% owned by the taxpayer [...]
Financial services provider Just Retirement this week posted record fourth quarter sales of £234.9 million, up 20% on the previous record. Chief executive Mike Fuller said the result for the three months ending 30th June 2009 was “very pleasing”. “We have also improved our capital position whilst maintaining our rigorous focus on profitability”, Fuller said. [...]
Profits at Nokia slid 66% in the second quarter on a 24% drop in net sales. Profit for the three months ending 30 June was €380 million (£330 million) on sales of €9.91 billion. The Finnish mobile phone maker remains optimistic despite the result, pointing out that on a quarter-by-quarter basis, profits increased 7% and [...]
US internet search company Google has exceeded market expectations by reporting strong second quarterly results, despite the economic turmoil. The company reported profit of $1.4 billion (£851 million) compared with $1.25 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Meanwhile, revenue rose 3% for the period at $5.52 billion with 53% from outside the US. [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
