Japanese shares rose more than 3% earlier today following some much needed good news. Stock markets were boosted by the news that Japanese carmakers, Toyota and Honda, may restart production this week, while it was revealed that progress is being made in containing radiation leaks. In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami on 11 [...]
Last month, the US Treasury Department announced plans to sell its 27% stake in Citigroup this year, in what will be one of the largest stock sales ever. Today, the Department said it had authorised the first sale of up to 1.5 billion shares – the equivalent of around 20% of the 7.7 billion shares [...]
Abbey has captured 20.5% of the UK mortgage market. The share is up from 16.3% of gross mortgage lending during the six months to the end of June 2009. Impressively, the bank’s prudent approach to lending meant that arrears of three months or more stood at 1.34% in the third quarter of the year, compared [...]
Supermarket giant, Morrisons, has announced a 22% rise underlying pre-tax profits to £359 million in the six months to August 2, up from £259 million last year. The UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain said it is benefiting during the economic downturn as new customers are attracted by its prices. According to the chain, it has [...]
LV= has warned of the dangers of trusting the people we love the most. The insurer said debit and credit card users risk having their identity stolen every time they share their pin number with their husband, wife, brother, sister, father, or mother. “We would strongly urge all card-users not to tell anyone their pin [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has named Lloyds Banking Group as the top mortgage lender for 2008, by market share. The body explains that its data assumes the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS took place earlier than it did in fact, to allow for a sound comparison. On this basis, the group increased its [...]
HSBC is proposing to increase its mortgage lending by 20% in 2009, making up to £15 billion available to UK homebuyers and remortgagers, in total. The bank, which also provides home loans via its online brand, First Direct, has been less affected by the credit crisis than some of its High Street rivals because of [...]
Nationalised bank Northern Rock has had to withdraw some of its savings deals after a flurry of deposits has put it close to breaching state ownership rules. Since it was nationalised in February, Newcastle-based Northern Rock has been offering some of the best savings rates, making it highly attractive for concerned savers to put their [...]
Abbey, which is now the UK’s second largest mortgage lender, increased its share of the home loans market to 15.9% in the first three months of the year. The figure translates as a meteoric rise when compared with the 4.9% share held in the first quarter of 2007, rising to 8.5% in the final quarter [...]
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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