Barclays thanks its shareholders for their patience and apologises for any inconvenience this turnaround period may have caused April 28, 2016 Barclays has today thanked its shareholders for being patient as the bank undergoes a turnaround period. In a statement ahead of the bank's AGM, chairman John McFarlane acknowledged that the last few years had been an "extremely difficult time for shareholders", and accepted that decision to slash the dividends for 2016 and 2017 last month would have hardly [...]
RBS warns of “significant risk” that it will not make the Williams & Glyn disposal deadline, share price drops April 28, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland, which remains 73 per cent government owned, has warned there is a significant risk it will fail to meet a deadline to dispose of challenger bank Williams & Glyn. The bank has warned the costs are likely to be "significantly greater than previously estimated." Shares in the bank instantly fell by over five per cent [...]
Profits drop six per cent at Lloyds Banking Group, beating analysts’ expectations April 28, 2016 Shares in Lloyds Banking Group plummeted by as much as four per cent this morning after the bank posted a six per cent drop in profits during the first quarter, beating analysts' expectations, but disappointing investors. Lloyds has since recovered some of the ground, with shares down two per cent by mid-morning, but the fall will still [...]
Profit at Spanish banking giant Santander drops five per cent in the first quarter on currency headwinds April 27, 2016 The eurozone's largest bank and the UK challenger Banco Santander, has posted a 4.9 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit from a year earlier. Santander reported net profit of €1.63bn (£1.84bn), beating a Reuters analyst poll of a 12.5 per cent decline. The drop was put down to currency headwinds as a fall in the value of the Brazilian [...]
These are the UK’s most-hated banks April 27, 2016 Banker-bashing may have become something of a national sport in recent years – but what about bank-bashing? A new survey has revealed UK banking customers' most-hated lenders. The so-called Big Four make up the top of the list, with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) scoring just 49.3 on a reputation scale of 0-100, while Lloyds follows, [...]
AnaCap in talks to buy Barclays’ French arm April 27, 2016 European private equity group AnaCap Financial Partners has entered exclusive talks to buy Barclays' French retail banking and wealth business. The division offers services including current accounts, deposits and mortgages, as well as a variety of products including life insurance and wealth management. The business has a network of 74 branches across France. If a deal is [...]
Barclays profits tumble 25 per cent as investment banking woes continue April 27, 2016 Barclays pre-tax profits have fallen by almost a quarter year-on-year as the investment bank division struggled to perform. But with a sign of progress being made, and confidence about the outlook for the rest of the year, Barclays' share price rose 3.9 per cent in early trading. The figures Barclays' first quarter pre-tax profit dropped 25 per [...]
All aboard! The banking rollercoaster ride is here April 27, 2016 The UK’s banks have been on a rollercoaster ride since the dark days of the credit crunch in 2008, from PPI mis-selling to Libor and the Forex scandal. Recent woes include market volatility, capital buffers and low interest rates depressing margins. As first quarter reporting season kicks off with Barclays today, some good news at [...]
Former Barclays boss Bob Diamond confirms bid talks for bank’s Africa unit April 26, 2016 Bob Diamond, the former Barclays chief executive who resigned from the bank in the wake of the Libor-rigging scandal, has taken another step towards seizing Barclays' Africa arm. Atlas Mara, the London-listed investment company Diamond co-founded in 2013, today revealed it was in talks for Barclays Africa unit which was put up for sale last month due [...]
Investment banks in talks over possible merger with energy-focused boutique April 26, 2016 Investment banks Perella Weinberg and Tudor, Pickering, Holt and Co are understood to be in talks over a possible merger. New York-based Perella, which recently advised Deutsche Boerse on its proposed merger with the London Stock Exchange, is the bigger of the two banks. Tudor, Pickering, Holt and Co is an energy-focused boutique bank based in Houston, Texas. [...]