London-based bank Standard Chartered today announced record first quarter profits and income. The bank, which has a strong presence in Asia, said wholesale banking showed robust results in the three months ending 31 March. In wholesale banking, which includes advisory, trade finance and other investment banking business, client income was up by more than a [...]
Official figures have revealed the world’s largest economy continued its strong recovery after annualised growth of 3.2% was recorded in the first three months of 2010, according to the US Commerce Department. However, the figure is the first of three estimates and could be revised up or down in the next few months. The figures [...]
Banking giant Barclays has today posted a sharp rise in profits for the first quarter of the year. The bank said profit for the three months to 31 March totalled £1.82 billion – a rise of 47% compared with the same period a year ago. The rise was boosted by a reduction in bad debts [...]
Edinburgh-based insurer, Standard Life, has today posted a 30% rise in sales for the first quarter of 2010 – far exceeding analysts expectations. The insurer said global sales grew to £4.6 billion in the first three months of the year compared with £3.56 billion in the same period a year ago. Long-term UK savings sales [...]
Bank of America (BoA) has today reported its first quarter earnings, rising 0.7% to $2.83 billion (£1.83 billion) from $2.81 billion a year ago, boosted by record sales and trading activity at its investment bank, as well as its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. However, the bank posted a $2.1 billion loss in its home mortgage [...]
China’s economy, which is the world’s third largest, expanded at an annualised rate of 11.9% in the first three months of the year. The news comes just a day after the Trade and Industry Ministry announced that Singapore’s economy saw first quarter annualised growth of 32.1% – compared with a 2.8% fall in the previous [...]
The Trade and Industry Ministry today announced that Singapore’s economy saw first quarter annualised growth of 32.1% – compared with a 2.8% fall in the previous quarter. According to the Ministry, the growth was driven by manufacturing activity and the central bank has therefore raised its 2010 growth forecast to between 7% and 9%. The [...]
Chipmaker Intel has reported record results for the first three months of 2010, boosted by demand for new chips for computer servers. The company, which is based in Santa Clara, California, said profits quarter one profits increased almost fourfold with net income totalling $2.4 billion (£1.5 billion), compared with $629 million in the same period [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK’s trade gap narrowed in February, due to a recovery in exports. According to the ONS, goods exports surged 9.5% in February, following on from a wintry January which affected trade. The ONS said the February deficit on goods trade narrowed to £6.17 billion, down [...]
A report by accountancy firm Ernst & Young has found that the number of profit warnings fell in the first quarter of 2010. According to E&Y, profit warnings by UK companies fell to a decade low in the first three months and will boost hopes that the economy is recovering. The accountancy group said the [...]
Influential think tank, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), said the UK economy avoided a double-dip recession in the first quarter of 2010 and is expected to see growth of 0.4%. However, official figures for quarter one GDP will not be published until April 23 but it appears many are optimistic for [...]
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
