Tag: return

Santander returns call centres to UK from India

Santander returns call centres to UK from India

Spanish banking giant Santander has announced it will return all of its call centres to the UK from India after complaints from its customers. It will create 500 jobs as part of the process and it is the latest in a series of customer service focus initiatives from the bank. Santander has a major UK [...]

Ireland’s economy grows in Q1

Ireland’s economy grows in Q1

Figures today have revealed Ireland’s economy returned to growth in the January to March period, following a 1.4% contraction in the final quarter of last year. According to the Central Statistics Office, the economy grew by 1.3%, partly attributed to net exports, which grew 20% on an annual basis. However, consumer demand continues to be [...]

Northern Rock bad bank returns to profit

Northern Rock bad bank returns to profit

Northern Rock Asset Management (NRAM), the so-called bad bank, returned to profit in 2010, it was reported today. The crisis-torn bank, which was the first victim of the credit crunch, said pre-tax profits for the 2010 year were £200.1 million, against a £166.5 million loss in 2009. At the start of 2010, Northern Rock was [...]

Taylor Wimpey returns to full-year profit

Taylor Wimpey returns to full-year profit

Taylor Wimpey, which was formed by the merger of Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey, today said it had returned to profitability but remains cautious. The housebuilder, which is the country’s third largest by value, said pre-tax profit before exceptional items came in at £75.1 million for the 2010 year – against a loss of £96.1 [...]

UBS returns to full-year profit

UBS returns to full-year profit

Swiss banking giant has posted its first annual profit since 2006. The bank, which is Switzerland’s largest, has today reported a net profit of SwFr7.2 billion (£4.7 billion) for the 2010 year – this compares with a loss of SwFr2.7 billion in 2009. However, the bank still has a long way to go after full-year [...]

First time buyers encouraged by house price falls

First time buyers encouraged by house price falls

Property website Rightmove has suggested that first-time buyers (FTBs) are returning to the housing market. According to a report by the property website, which questioned 25,584 potential buyers last month, FTBs are encouraged by house price falls. It found that around 33% of FTBs expect the cost of property to be lower this time next [...]

BP returns to profit following disastrous oil leak

BP returns to profit following disastrous oil leak

Oil giant BP has today announced its results for the July to September period. These were delayed by one week because of account complexities relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The company said third-quarter replacement cost profit dived 63% to $1.85 billion (£1.15 billion), this compares with the $17 billion loss reported in [...]

Banking recovery continues as Lloyds Banking Group returns to profit

Banking recovery continues as Lloyds Banking Group returns to profit

Lloyds Banking Group, which is 41% owned by the Government, has today reported it returned to profit in the first six months of 2010, revealing profits of £1.6 billion, against a loss of £4 billion a year earlier. The rise in profits was primarily due to reduced writedowns with bad loans falling from £13.4 billion [...]

Bradford & Bingley back in the black

Bradford & Bingley back in the black

Nationalised lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) today announced it returned to profit in the first half. The bank posted a pre-tax profit of £896 million for the six months to the end of June, after posing a loss of £160 million in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, operating costs fell from £65 million [...]

German business confidence sees record rise

German business confidence sees record rise

The Munich-based Ifo think tank today announced confidence among German firms has returned. The Business Climate Index jumped to 106.2 points in July from 101.8 the previous month – the strongest rise for 20 years. The reading also exceeded expectations of a fall to 101.5 points. Germany, which is Europe’s largest economy, contracted by a [...]

Ryanair returns to profit

Ryanair returns to profit

Budget airline Ryanair has today announced it returned to profit for the year to March after reporting its first annual loss a year ago. The airline unveiled pre-tax profits of €341 million (£289 million) for the year and said it intends to pay a one-off dividend to shareholders totalling €500 million – the first one [...]

Reduction in bad debt helps Lloyds return to profit

Reduction in bad debt helps Lloyds return to profit

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 [...]

Stock markets recover after Dubai debt fears ease

Stock markets recover after Dubai debt fears ease

Global markets rallied this morning as fears over the Dubai debt crisis started to ease. As the facts of Dubai’s debt crisis unravelled at the end of last week, shares across the world plunged but have today recovered as confidence returns. It emerged last week that state-owned company Dubai World wanted a six-month holiday from [...]

BSA argues Northern Rock should return to mutual status

BSA argues Northern Rock should return to mutual status

The Building Societies Association (BSA) is urging the Government to return Northern Rock to the mutual sector, arguing that mutuals take less risk than banks owned by shareholders. Mutual building societies are owned by their members, not by shareholders, and are run for the benefit of those members. The BSA said a new report points [...]

NS&I see savers flee as confidence returns

NS&I see savers flee as confidence returns

Government-backed National Savings & Investments (NS&I) said it has been hit by a return in confidence in banks. The financial crisis led to many British savers withdrawing their funds from banks and choosing safer havens, such as the NS&I. In the final quarter of 2008, which covered the height of the banking crisis, NS&I reported [...]

Halifax ranks home improvement returns

Halifax ranks home improvement returns

Halifax is recommending that “straightforward” home improvements are most likely to offer the highest return in terms of adding value to a home. According to the lender’s research, fuel efficiency and energy saving measures head the list, with the potential for more than double the amount laid out to be reflected in a property’s value. [...]

UKFI admits selling stakes in nationalised banks will be “challenging”

UKFI admits selling stakes in nationalised banks will be “challenging”

UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the body set up to manage taxpayers’ interests in rescued banks, has today admitted that returning investments to the private sector will be “challenging”. According to the body, each household in the country has over £3,000 invested in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which are 43% and [...]

Northern Rock returns to new lending at 90% LTV

Northern Rock returns to new lending at 90% LTV

Northern Rock is reversing its post-nationalisation strategy of running down its mortgage book and will begin offering new loans of up to 90% of a property’s value. The move offers hope to the UK’s beleaguered housing market, which despite the recent rise in new buyer enquiries reported by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and [...]

First-time buyers return to property market

First-time buyers return to property market

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has reported that first-time buyers are making a tentative return to the housing market. In a survey of its members, the NAEA found that in June first-time buyer sales represented 11.8% of the housing market as compared with 9.8% a year earlier and up from 10.6% in May [...]