Npower sells customers to smaller rival November 20, 2013 NPOWER yesterday claimed to have created a new household energy supplier that will compete with the big six, after selling 770,000 customer accounts to Telecom Plus. In a £218m deal, Telecom Plus will almost double its customer base and immediately boost its energy margins by 4.25 per cent. The FTSE 250-listed firm, which trades as [...]
First five star score for RBS and Natwest November 20, 2013 A SURVEY of financial wellbeing released today has given the first five star rating to a bank’s product since it began in 2010. Research by the Fairbanking Foundation, which looks at savings accounts, currents accounts, credit cards and personal loans, gave RBS and NatWest’s instant saver with savings goals a five star rating, the first awarded for [...]
Fastest lift in mortgage lending for five years November 20, 2013 MORTGAGE lending soared to £17.6bn last month as the UK’s housing market continued to heat up, marking the steepest annual jump since 2008. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed yesterday that gross lending was up nine per cent from September, and an eye-watering 37 per cent higher than in October 2012. The last time it recorded [...]
Inside Track: Crystal Methodist could jeopardise Co-op Bank’s rescue November 20, 2013 SAYING it with Flowers has just assumed an entirely new meaning. The debacle at the Co-op – fuelled by revelations about former bank chairman Paul Flowers’ extra-curricular behaviour – raises profound questions for regulators, government and bank boards alike. Lord Myners, the former Labour city minister, was right to raise the possibility that this week’s [...]
Barclays cuts Christmas hours for IT and account contractors November 20, 2013 HUNDREDS of contract workers at Barclays are to lose 10 days’ work before the end of the year, City A.M. understands, in a move which surprised staff. The contractors in Barclays Finance were told this week that they would have to take off 10 unpaid days by the end of the year. “The bank has [...]
Zurich shakes up Asia work November 20, 2013 ZURICH Insurance has sold its remaining stake in New China Life Insurance for $943m (£584.7m), as it pushes ahead with an attempt to diversify its Asian portfolio. The Swiss insurer said yesterday it had offered its 292.5m shares in NCI, representing a 9.4 per cent stake, at a fixed price of HK$25.00 each. The price [...]
Bank keen to play down talk of a rate hike November 20, 2013 THE BANK of England’s interest rate-setting committee voted unanimously this month to keep the rate at its historic low, while emphasising that it may not tighten policy even when unemployment falls below the seven per cent threshold. Governor Mark Carney introduced forward guidance this summer, saying that the Bank does not intend to lift rates until [...]
Study says tourism industry has created a third of UK’s new jobs November 20, 2013 THE UK’S tourism industry is set to grow at a faster pace than crucial sectors such as retail, construction and manufacturing, according to a report published this morning. The Deloitte study, commissioned by the UK government-funded group Visit Britain, says that the tourism sector will grow by 3.8 per cent a year from now until 2025. [...]
Back to bonds for Allied Irish November 20, 2013 ALLIED Irish Banks returned to the wholesale bond market yesterday, with its first unsecured debt issuance since 2009. The offering garnered €3.6bn (£3bn) of demand for a €500m transaction. The bonds mature in three years’ time, with a coupon of 2.875 per cent. Allied Irish said that investors from 25 countries had been involved in the [...]
Cars drive up Japan exports November 20, 2013 JAPAN’S exports surged to their largest annual increase in three years last month, as car shipments jumped. Exports were up 18.6 per cent in October compared to a year earlier, government data showed yesterday. Significantly, exports also rebounded in volume terms, rising 4.4 per cent from a year earlier, in a sign the global economy [...]