HSBC is overstating Asia demerger cost, Ping An claims August 11, 2022 Britain’s largest bank HSBC is blowing up the financial hit from carving out its Asia business to water down pressure from its biggest shareholder to demerge, sources close to the matter said. Chinese insurer Ping An claimed selling off the high street lender’s highly profitable Asia arm would unlock $35bn (£29bn) in value for shareholders [...]
Credit Suisse begins High Court claim against SoftBank in $440m dispute August 11, 2022 Credit Suisse is ramping up its legal fight against Japanese investment giant SoftBank as it looks to recoup losses linked to the collapse of supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital.
Hungary caves to Russian pressure as it pays transit fees for oil supplies August 10, 2022 Hungarian energy group MOL has submitted transit fees to Ukraine, on behalf of Russia, to restart flows of oil crude from the country.
Sitting on cash pile: Only half of all councils in England use £1.5bn pandemic fund with thousands of companies missing out August 8, 2022 Only half of all councils in England have started making payments to Covid-hit firms from a £1.5bn support package, almost 18 months after it was first launched. Real estate experts have said it is “too little too late” and could mean thousands of companies miss out on almost £700m of available funding. In March 2021, [...]
This week’s rate rise: Brits face immediate jump in interest payments of £1.67bn August 6, 2022 With the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee confirming its base rate will rise by 0.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent, UK households face an immediate increase in interest payments of £1.67bn. UK households are currently paying £24.1 billion annually in interest payments on floating rate debt that are likely to be immediately impacted by [...]
Exclusive: A third of all small businesses in Britain set to fold unless they get access to fresh funding August 6, 2022 One in three UK small and medium enterprises (SMEs) say their survival is dependent on accessing finance by the end of the year, according to new research shared exclusively with City A.M. this weekend. A third of all SMEs in Britain fear their business will collapse if they are unable to access finance, such as [...]
Andrew Bailey hits back at Suella Braverman saying Bank of England did not raise rates too late August 5, 2022 The Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has defended not raising interest rates earlier. His comments come after Attorney General Suella Braverman said interest rates “should have been raised a long time ago and the Bank of England has been too slow in this regard”. Bailey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If [...]
London Stock Exchange Group says costs for integrating Refinitv after £22bn takeover unchanged August 5, 2022 The London Stock Exchange Group has said costs for the integration of its $27bn (£22.2bn) takeover of data firm Refinitiv remain unchanged. In interim results, the company also announced it was launching a £750m share buy-back programme. “We are managing costs well and we continue to make progress on achievement of synergies,” the group’s chief [...]
Tough markets offset growth in Hargreaves Lansdown’s business August 5, 2022 Hargreaves Lansdown today said “difficult” market conditions in the first half of 2022 have halted its growth trajectory in causing the value of the assets administers to drop 9 per cent to £123.8bn. The Bristol headquartered company said major downturns in the FTSE, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 offset £5.5bn worth of new business in [...]
More businesses to go bust after today’s rate rise as £2bn is added to borrowing costs overnight August 4, 2022 With the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee increasing its base rate by another 0.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent, UK businesses face an immediate increase in interest payments of more than £2bn. Analysis of Bank of England data shows UK businesses are currently paying £14bn annually in interest payments on their £409bn in floating rate [...]