Lloyds first quarter profit crashes 95 per cent on coronavirus April 30, 2020 Lloyds Banking Group posted a huge 95 per cent fall in profit for the first quarter of 2020 today as the coronavirus crisis took hold in the UK. Profit before tax slumped to £74m from £1.6bn the previous year as Lloyds took a massive impairment charge of £1.43bn as it expects bad loans to mount [...]
Barclays boss: Government prepared to go ‘well beyond’ £330bn in business support April 29, 2020 Barclays boss Jes Staley has said that the government is prepared to go “well beyond” its initial £330bn coronavirus business rescue package, labelling its efforts so far “an extraordinary tsunami”. Speaking to analysts this morning, Staley said: ‘£330bn was a first indicative number, but I think it’s pretty clear that they are willing to go [...]
Barclays’ first quarter profit falls by £600m amid coronavirus disruption April 29, 2020 Barclays’ profit has tumbled to £923m in the first quarter, down from £1.54bn in the same period last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. it revealed today. The bank also booked an impairment charge of £2.1bn, which it said reflected its “initial estimates of the impact of the pandemic”. However, Barclays’ shares jumped five per [...]
Standard Chartered eyes recovery in China as profits tumble 12 per cent April 29, 2020 The coronavirus crisis has pushed Standard Chartered’s pre-tax profits down 12 per cent, but the lender is eyeing signs of recovery in China. However, the lender pointed to “encouraging early signs” of recovery in China. Investors welcomed the optimism with Standard Chartered’s London-listed shares up 3.6 per cent. “We expect a gradual recovery from the [...]
Martin Gilbert: Coronavirus ‘multiple times worse’ than Black Monday for City April 29, 2020 Veteran asset manager Martin Gilbert has warned the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will be “the most dramatic we’ve seen since the 1930s” as he warned of “a long, slow recovery” for certain sectors of the economy. Speaking to The City View podcast today, Gilbert said that though Black Monday in 1987 was a [...]
The City View podcast, from City A.M., with Martin Gilbert April 28, 2020 In this episode Christian talks to City veteran Martin Gilbert on the eve of his departure from Standard Life Aberdeen, the £550bn investment management giant. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Martin founded Aberdeen Asset Management in 1983 and became co-CEO of SLA after a 2017 merger with Standard [...]
FCA warns banks not to pressure corporate clients amid coronavirus April 28, 2020 The City watchdog today warned banks not to put pressure on their corporate clients to cut them into business in return for coronavirus loans. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) wrote to lenders to say it had heard “credible reports of a small number of banks failing to treat their corporate clients fairly” while negotiating coronavirus [...]
R3 boss: Coronavirus is exposing cracks in banking tech April 28, 2020 As banking sectors across the globe grapple with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a Wall Street veteran suggests the crisis may expose the need for new technology. David Rutter, who had a decade-long stint at interdealer Icap and now heads up financial tech firm R3, believes issues like the lending of coronavirus loans have [...]
HSBC CEO: Applications for coronavirus loans ‘now easier’ to process April 28, 2020 HSBC’s CEO today blamed the sheer demand for coronavirus loans for banks’ apparent slowness to lend out cash to struggling small businesses. Noel Quinn said banks have seen a “significant volume” of applications for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) so far. And he rejected the notion that a full government guarantee of such [...]
Lenders grant 1.6m mortgage payment holidays to homeowners April 28, 2020 Lenders have granted 1.6m mortgage payment holidays to homeowners facing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in March that households with mortgages would be entitled to three-month payment holidays. Over a third of payment holidays approved so far were done in the first week of the UK’s lockdown. One in [...]