Incentive awards at Barclays inched down in 2016 despite bumper profits February 23, 2017 Barclays revealed today that its incentive pay pool shrank in 2016, despite revealing its pre-tax profits had almost trebled. The banking giant shelled out £1.5bn in incentive payments for the year, down one per cent on 2015. However, the lender's headcount also plummeted during the year, as part of its large-scale restructuring scheme. While the [...]
This is how City analysts reacted to Barclays’ results February 23, 2017 Another day, another big bank reports its numbers – this time, it's Barclays' turn. Shares in the the lender went up by more than three per cent after it reported pre-tax profits almost tripled last year, growing by a massive 182 per cent to hit £3.2bn – but the bank still missed expectations. Here's how [...]
These are the UK banks with the happiest and saddest customers February 23, 2017 TSB has the happiest customers of the UK's high street banks, according to new research based on tweets. Emotion analytics company Adoreboard looked at more than 67,000 tweets by bank customers over a six-month period, and used mathematical algorithms to detect emotions such as joy, trust, rage and anger expressed by social media users. Unsurprisingly, the researchers [...]
Government stake in Lloyds Banking Group drops below four per cent, down from 43 per cent at its peak February 23, 2017 The government revealed this morning that it had shed more of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, with its remaining shareholding now standing at less than four per cent. The government said to date it had recovered over £19bn of the £20.3bn of taxpayer cash that was used to bolster the bank in the aftermath of [...]
Barclays’ 2016 pre-tax profits almost treble at £3.2bn, as it eyes an early close for non-core February 23, 2017 Barclays revealed this morning that its profits had shot up during 2016, and announced it would close down its non-core unit earlier than planned. The figures The banking giant reported a profit before tax of £3.2bn, up 182 per cent from £1.1bn in 2015. However, the figure missed the analysts' consensus, which had predicted profits before tax [...]
Digital challenger bank Monzo’s just raised millions more and plans fresh crowdfunding February 23, 2017 Digital challenger bank Monzo has landed a new multimillion pound round of funding from fresh investors valuing it at £65m. The startup, which is seeking to disrupt traditional banking with online-only services, will combine the investment with a fresh round of crowdfunding following huge demand from private investors last year, totaling £22m. The round was [...]
As Lloyds posts its highest profit in a decade, have British banks got over the financial crisis? February 23, 2017 Fahad Kamal, senior market strategist at Kleinwort Hambros, says Yes. In the latest stress tests conducted by the European Banking Authority, only two of the 51 banks tested – neither British – would fall below the minimum capital level required in an “adverse” scenario. Admittedly, some UK banks still have a hangover from the pre-crisis [...]
Leeds Building Society’s profits headed north for the fourth year in a row, but boss warns low interest rates and Brexit could make the road ahead tough February 22, 2017 Leeds Building Society announced today its annual profits before tax had risen for the fourth year in a row, but the lender's boss warned super low interest rates could lead to tough times ahead. The figures The building society revealed profits before tax of £116.6m, up 7.5 per cent compared with £108.5m the year before. However, [...]
Metro Bank boss: We could have made a profit sooner but I wanted to build a bank my kids would be proud of February 22, 2017 Metro Bank announced its full-year results this morning, revealing it had grown closer to getting out of the red but was still yet to turn an annual profit. The challenger bank revealed this morning underlying losses before tax had improved 75 per cent for the year to £11.7m, up from £46.6m, and statutory losses before tax [...]
Tom Hayes, the first person to be found guilty of Libor-rigging offences in the UK, is suing the City watchdog over his industry ban February 22, 2017 Tom Hayes, the first person to be found guilty of Libor rigging in the UK, is suing the City watchdog to overturn a ban on him working in the industry. The former UBS and Citigroup trader was jailed for 14 years in August 2015, but his sentence was reduced to 11 years by the Court [...]