The winners and losers of the FTSE 100’s record year Markets In what has been a record year for the FTSE 100, a number of London’s blue-chips missed out on the rally and were left in the dark. The FTSE 100 is poised to close 2025 just shy of the 10,000 mark after rising 20 per cent over the course of the year, led by strong [...]
How Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC fired up the FTSE 100 in 2025 Banking If 2025 was supposed to be the year of the AI bubble, nobody told Britain’s banking giants. Amidst the noise of the US tech boom, the UK’s FTSE 100 banking heavyweights, Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays, and HSBC, have staged a formidable, if understated, rally. Lloyds delivered an astonishing 75.8 per cent gain, while Barclays surged 65 [...]
HSBC taps KPMG veteran Brendan Nelson to chair banking giant Banking Europe’s biggest lender, HSBC, has named a new chair following its tumultuous recruitment programme after the departure of Sir Mark Tucker. HSBC tapped KPMG veteran Brendan Nelson, who has also served on the boards of BP and Royal Bank of Scotland, as its new chair. Nelson joined the banking giant’s board in 2023 and has served [...]
Natwest shares jump after cost-cutting boosts profit October 24, 2025 Natwest stock surged in early trading this morning after the lender posted a major bump in third-quarter profit following its cost-cutting regime. The FTSE 100 giant’s operating profit before tax surged over 30 per cent in the third quarter to £2.2bn, up from £1.7bn last year. Shares were up over five per cent as markets [...]
Lloyds profit slides 36 per cent after hiking motor finance provisions October 23, 2025 Lloyds Banking Group recorded a major hit to profit in the third quarter after the group was forced to nearly-double its provisions for the motor finance scandal. The bank posted a third-quarter profit before tax of £1.2bn, falling 36 per cent from the £1.8bn recorded in 2024. For the year-to-date the FTSE 100 titan has [...]
HSBC shares jump after naming top Natwest boss as new UK chief October 21, 2025 European banking juggernaut HSBC enjoyed a bump in its share price as markets opened on Monday after the bank named its new UK boss. David Lindberg, who most recently led retail banking operations at Natwest, will join the FTSE 100 titan to take the helm at its UK bank. Shares jumped near two per cent [...]
HSBC shares sink on play to take control of Hong Kong bank October 9, 2025 HSBC shares tumbled on Thursday morning as the bank laid out plans to suspend its buyback program in order to buy out minority shareholders in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Baak. The FTSE 100 banking juggernaut has offered to pay HK$155 per share for the 36 per cent not already owned by the bank. The proposal [...]
Motor finance lenders gear up for ‘forensic test of discipline’ over redress scheme October 8, 2025 The Financial Conduct Authority has softened the motor finance blow for lenders but experts say firms won’t be able to shift into a new gear just yet. The City watchdog has priced the cost of its industry-wide redress scheme at £11bn – a hefty sum but far below the eye-watering £44bn previously floated. Just over [...]
Natwest and HSBC shares dip as bank tax chatter heats up September 22, 2025 Shares in Natwest and HSBC dipped on Monday morning as traders digested renewed chatter of a tax hike on Britain’s banking giants. Natwest tumbled as much as 1.3 per cent to 506p when markets opened, while HSBC fell 0.6 per cent to 1,022p. Barclays fell nearly 0.2 per cent to 381p. Lloyds was broadly flat [...]
Natwest and Lloyds shares lead £8bn plunge amid bank tax fears August 29, 2025 Shares in a number of Britain’s biggest banking giants tumbled on Friday as speculation that Rachel Reeves would use the sector for an easy cash grab ramped up. Natwest topped the FTSE 100’s fallers, losing over five per cent. Meanwhile, Lloyds was down nearly four per cent, Barclays just over two per cent, whilst HSBC [...]