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 [...]
Credit Suisse, which is Switzerland’s largest bank, has today revealed it will axe 2,000 jobs after unveiling poor results in the second quarter. The job cuts represent approximately 4% of its 50,700-strong global workforce. The Swiss banking giant has been hit by weak trading activity and the strong Swiss franc. Net profits dived to SwFr [...]
The European Banking Authority (EBA) will reveal the results of stress tests of 90 banks across Europe later today. The latest round of tests arose after last year’s failed to reveal the weakness among banks in Ireland and have been conducted to ensure banks have enough capital to cope with difficult economic situations, such as [...]
HSBC has today revealed it will embark on a massive cost-cutting exercise, just two days after it unveiled its first quarter results. The bank, which is Europe’s largest, is looking to save up to $3.5 billion (£2 billion) by streamlining its IT operations and cutting back on its wealth management and retail divisions. However, the [...]
Banking giant HSBC has today said net profits grew 58% to $4.153 billion in the three months to 31 March on lower taxes and bad debt charges. However, the bank, which is Europe’s largest, said the group’s pre-tax gains were driven down by rises in other exceptional costs – such as the £269 million it [...]
British banking giant Barclays has today announced a fall in pre-tax profits for the first quarter. The bank said profits were 9% lower at £1.66 billion due to a 15% fall in revenues at Barclays Capital. Today’s results were lower than analysts expectations. However, profits from its retail and business banking operations rose by 21% [...]
Swiss banking giant UBS has today reported a net profit of SwFr1.8 billion (£1.2 billion) in the first quarter of the year. However, this represented an 18% fall on the same period a year ago but 7% higher than the final quarter of 2010. The bank, which is Switzerland’s largest, was among one of the [...]
British banks are set to reveal their bonus payouts in the coming weeks, along with their results. Banking giant Barclays will be the first to reveal its results and 2010 bonus payout on Tuesday. There is still speculation that Barclays is reviewing its bonus structure. Chief executive, Bob Diamond, is understood to be considering paying [...]
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 84% owned by the taxpayer, is set to reignite its dispute over bonuses after hiring John McIntyre. Mr McIntyre, the former Lehman Brothers banker, is a renowned figure in the City after successfully suing his former employer, Dresdner Kleinwort, for a £2 million bonus. He will join [...]
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has today announced third quarter profits rose 7% to $3.5 billion (£2.2 billion) – up from $3 billion last year. However, the group said net earnings dived 21% in the three month period, compared with the previous quarter. The company said it produced 3.058 million barrels of oil per day [...]
US banking giant Citigroup has today revealed a third quarter profit of $2.2 billion (£1.4 billion) – beating market forecasts and compares with $101 million in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, provisions for bad loans fell to $5.9 billion for the July to September period compared with $6.7 billion in the second quarter [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Holidaymakers could be facing further travel chaos after it emerged that airport operator, BAA, has voted for strike action. The results of the ballot are expected later today and Unite members who include fire-fighters, security staff and ground staff at airports, are in a dispute over pay. BAA, which is majority owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, [...]
According to a study by professional services firm Deloitte, 76% of companies in the UK, US and Europe have exceeded City forecasts when reporting their second quarter profits. As a result of the findings of the study which looked at 543 firms, Deloitte said companies are making “real progress” but warned that consumer incomes and [...]
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 [...]
The UK’s banking reporting season has got off to a flying start today after banking giant HSBC reported profits more than doubled, exceeding analysts expectations. Europe’s largest bank has today announced a pre-tax profit of $11.1 billion (£7 billion) for the six months to the end of June, compared with $5 billion in the same [...]
British banks will unveil their first-half profits this week with the five biggest banks expected to reveal they are back in the black. Banking giant HSBC will kick off the reporting season tomorrow, with Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered announcing their results on Wednesday, Barclays on Thursday and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on [...]
The results of the European banking stress tests are to be published today. The stress tests were conducted to ease increasing anxiety over Europe’s finance sector. A total of 91 banks from across Europe have been tested and regulators have assessed whether banks are strong enough to cope with any future economic crises, or to [...]
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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