The return to work: Here’s when City firms are going back to the office August 7, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday said a strong recovery for the UK economy will require people to have the confidence to return to work at the office. The government is worried that hospitality businesses are being hit hard by people working from home. But London firms have adopted a more cautious approach than the [...]
Standard Life Aberdeen profit hit by coronavirus and £25bn Lloyds withdrawal August 7, 2020 Standard Life Aberdeen’s pre-tax profit slumped 30 per cent to £195m in the first half of 2020 after Lloyds withdrew £25bn in the peak of the pandemic. The figures Fee-based revenue fell 13 per cent to £706m as clients pulled their money out to lower fee assets and Lloyds’ scheduled withdrawal of assets. That missed [...]
Let’s give our SMEs all the help they need to expand overseas — by tackling unfair payment charges August 7, 2020 Coronavirus has changed our lives, there’s no denying that. But it’s also changed the way a huge number of businesses operate on a daily basis. We’re not just seeing SMEs cope with new track and trace systems and social distancing rules. They’re revolutionising the way they make money, moving operations online, and even going cashless [...]
Edward Bramson resumes activist campaign against Barclays August 6, 2020 Edward Bramson has renewed his activist campaign against Barclays’ investment bank, even after the division reported a surge in revenue this year. Bramson reportedly told shareholders in his investment Sherborne Investors that the pandemic had “significantly distorted the first half results of all the banks”. In April Bramson called a temporary truce in his battle [...]
Bank of England: Downturn better than feared but UK faces longer recovery August 6, 2020 The Bank of England has significantly improved its prediction for the path of the UK economy this year, but said the recovery will take longer than initially expected. The Bank’s projection, released today, said the UK economy was likely to shrink by 9.5 per cent this year and then grow by nine per cent in [...]
BoE puts negative interest rates in its ‘toolbox’ for the first time August 6, 2020 The Bank of England has put negative interest rates in its “toolbox” of possible monetary policy measures for the first time, governor Andrew Bailey said today. However, Bailey cautioned that the Bank does not currently “have a plan to use them”. Read more: Bank of England says UK economy’s recovery will take longer than expected [...]
Goldman Sachs sets new diversity goals for employing vice presidents August 5, 2020 Goldman Sachs has set new diversity goals for employing Black, Latino and female vice presidents, reflecting a growing acknowledgment that most top roles are held by white men. The bank said that by 2025 it wants seven per cent of its employees with the title to be Black and nine per cent to be Latino. [...]
Metro Bank shares tumble as crisis pushes challenger to £240m loss August 5, 2020 Metro Bank shares plunged more than 13.5 per cent this morning, after the challenger bank declared a £240.6m loss for the first six months of 2020. Its profit for the same period last year was £3.4m, representing a crash of more than 7,000 per cent. Today’s share price fall worsens an existing collapse of more [...]
Commerzbank warns of a loss in 2020 as Wirecard hits loan book August 5, 2020 German lender Commerzbank posted a 21 per cent drop in profit in the second quarter as loan loss provisions increased and warned it is set to fall to a loss in 2020. Provisions for credit losses rose to €469m as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Around €175m of the provision was related to scandal-hit [...]
Non-Standard Finance shares plunge 26 per cent as FCA raises concerns August 3, 2020 Shares in sub-prime lender Non-Standard Finance (NSF) have plunged 26 per cent after the UK’s financial watchdog raised concerns about its guarantor loans division, causing the firm to put a share issue on hold. Non-Standard Finance said in a statement today that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had “raised a number of concerns regarding certain [...]