Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, has today reported a 9.5% fall in pre-tax profits as conditions on the High Street remain challenging. Profits fell to £265.2 million in the 12 months to 26 February compared with £293 million in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, revenue was almost 3% lower on [...]
Goldman Sachs, which is the fifth largest US bank, today reported first quarter profits were 21% lower compared with a year ago. The banking giant said net income dropped to $2.74 billion (£1.7 billion) from $3.46 billion a year earlier. However, the results were better than analysts expected. In other news today, Bank of New [...]
Bank of America, which is the largest in the US by assets, has posted a 38% decline in profits for the first quarter. The bank said profits came in at $2 billion (£1.23 billion), a sharp fall compared with a year ago. Furthermore, its home loans business lost $2.39 billion, as debts were not repaid. [...]
Newcastle-based housebuilder Bellway has today reported a 26% rise in first-half profit and experienced strong activity in home buying since the start of 2011. The housebuilder, which is the fifth largest by market value, said pre-tax profits came in at £24 million for the six month period to the end of January – compared with [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 83% owned by the taxpayer, has disclosed details of the amount of money it paid to its key staff in 2010. The bank said its 323 key staff were paid a total of £375 million last year – after already divulging its chief executive, Stephen Hester, received a [...]
Housebuilder Bovis Homes issued a positive statement today after saying 2011 had started well for the company and it will resume dividend payments. According to the company, pre-tax profits for 2010 were £18.5 million – more than double the £7.5 million it reported for the 2009 year. Revenues were up 6% at £298.6 million and [...]
It has been revealed that Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, will be awarded a bonus of £6.5 million for the 2010 year. While the figure is lower than a reported bonus of £9 million, Mr Diamond, who was appointed chief executive earlier this year, is already paid a £250,000 annual salary. The bonus and [...]
HSBC, which is Europe’s largest bank, has once again denied rumours that it is planning to relocate its UK headquarters to Hong Kong. A report in the Sunday Telegraph quoted an unnamed, investor as saying “we were told that a move [to Hong Kong] is now more than likely”. However, the bank has refuted the [...]
London-based emerging markets bank, Standard Chartered, has today posted annual pre-tax profits of $6.122 billion (£3.76 billion) compared with $5.151 billion in 2009. The bank, which has a strong presence in Asia, said the rise was driven by a fall in loan impairment losses, which dropped 56% to $883 million. The bank has weathered the [...]
HSBC has today posted pre-tax profits of $19 billion (£11.8 billion) for the 2010 year, compared with $7.1 billion for the 2009 year. While the banking giant saw profits double, the results disappointed investors as they were slightly below the $20 billion analysts had expected. Shares in the bank were up 2% prior to the [...]
Banking giant Lloyds has today reported it has returned to profit – its first since the bank had to be rescued by the Government at the height of the financial crisis in autumn 2008. Lloyds Banking Group, which is 41% owned by the taxpayer, posted pre-tax profits of £2.2 billion, compared with a £6.3 billion [...]
British banking giant Barclays has today kicked off the reporting season by announcing better profits than analysts had forecast. The bank posted pre-tax profits of £6.07 billion for the 2010 year – a rise of 32% compared with £4.59 billion in the previous year. Meanwhile, the bank said it lent over £43 billion to UK [...]
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has today reported an almost doubling in profits for the 2010 year. The Anglo-Dutch firm, which is Britain’s second largest oil company, said profits soared 90% to $18.6 billion (£11.5 billion) compared with $9.8 billion in 2009. The rise was attributed to higher oil prices and rising output. Production levels [...]
Irish budget airline Ryanair has today posted a loss of €10.3 million (£8.8 million) in the October to December period, due to the severe wintry weather in Europe last month, as well as the strike action by French air traffic controllers. However, the loss was lower than the €10.9 million reported in the year ago [...]
US banking giant Goldman Sachs has today reported a $2.39 billion (£1.49 billion) profit for the fourth quarter, 53% lower compared with a year ago. However, the figures were roughly in line with expectations but shares still fell 3.1% to $169.22 in pre-market trading. The fourth quarter figures come at the end of a difficult [...]
Housebuilder Bovis Homes has today issued a positive trading statement after saying it expects profits to be ahead of expectations for the 2010 year. The company, which is one of the smaller listed housebuilders, said it will also start paying dividends again to shareholders. Many housebuilders took a battering during the housing market slump and [...]
December’s heavy snowfall had a negative impact on many companies and housebuilder Persimmon was no exception. The housebuilder, which is the UK’s second largest by market value, said sales activity fell by 50% in December but said it had been an encouraging start to the year. The company reported a considerable increase in underlying profits [...]
Online search giant Yahoo has confirmed it will reduce its headcount by 4% – or 600 people, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. The job losses represent the fourth round of staff cuts that the company has made in three years, as it endeavours to cut costs and increase profits. The company’s revenues have grown [...]
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has again revised its forecasts for the airline industry. According to the industry body, global airlines will make a profit of $15.1 billion (£9.5 billion) this year. The figure is 70% higher than its previous forecast made in September and significantly better than its anticipated loss of $2.8 billion [...]
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% [...]
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, [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
