Lloyds Bank analyst ‘favourite’ after annual results February 25, 2025 Analysts have slapped a ‘Buy’ rating on Barclays, Natwest and Lloyds shares following annual results, but said the latter was the “favourite” of the pack. The three UK giants all posted annual results this month, with Barclays and Natwest meeting profit estimates and Lloyds taking a hit. Jonathan Pierce and Priya Rathod, analysts at Jefferies, [...]
Analysts slap 359p price target on Barclays shares after results February 25, 2025 Analysts have reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating on Barclays shares after the lender beat expectations when it reported results earlier this month. The FTSE 100 lender booked a profit before tax of £8.1bn in 2024, ahead of the £8.07bn estimated. “We believe strong capital generation should support a higher valuation and plans to return more than [...]
FTSE 100 lenders pocket record total profit February 21, 2025 Standard Chartered was the last of the FTSE 100’s biggest banks to release its annual results, as analysts praised the strong performance across all of the Big Five. Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds and Standard Chartered booked an all-time high of £50.3bn in profit in 2024 and returned £35bn to investors. Russ Mould, investment director at [...]
Barclays and Natwest drop climate targets from executive bonuses February 18, 2025 Banking giants Barclays and Natwest will both drop climate targets from their annual bonus schemes for senior executives. The move reflects a wider shift underway in the corporate world, removing a formal link between climate and diversity targets and remuneration. Both lenders will cut sustainability metrics as performance measures from annual award schemes, and instead roll [...]
Barclays shares near post-financial crisis high February 18, 2025 Shares in Barclays closed in on a post-financial crisis high on Tuesday morning. The stock has surged higher over the past 12 months due to improved investor sentiment towards the banking sector thanks to higher interest rates. Shares rallied to a high of 310.20p following market open, touching highs not witnessed since the rebound of [...]
HSBC set to unveil bigger profits as cost-cutting overhaul in focus February 16, 2025 HSBC is set to unveil bigger profits as investors prepare for an update on the bank’s cost-cutting overhaul, while earnings for Lloyds will be in focus amid a long-running motor finance probe. Rivals Barclays and NatWest set the tone for the banking sector when they reported stronger earnings this week, despite UK interest rates starting [...]
Analysts say ‘Buy’ Natwest shares after annual results February 14, 2025 Analysts have slapped a ‘Buy’ rating on Natwest shares after the bank’s annual results beat expectations. Peel Hunt analysts Robert Sage and Stuart Duncan said the lender’s strong performance in 2024 increased “conviction that market expectations can be delivered”. Natwest reported a £6.2bn pre-tax profit for 2024, up 0.3 per cent on 2023’s headline figure, [...]
WFH: Just one in 10 Gen Z want to be in the office full-time February 14, 2025 Only one in ten Gen Z employees want to work in the office full-time and more than half admit they are less industrious than their parents. According to a Times-led study into the generation, more than one in five respondents (21 per cent) of Gen Z, who are between 18 and 27 years old, spend [...]
Barclays puts aside £90m for motor finance scandal February 13, 2025 Barclays announced in its annual results it had set aside £90m to cover potential motor finance payouts, amidst ongoing disputes over the misconduct row. This follows the landmark Court of Appeal’s October 2024 judgment, ruling in favour of three consumers and determining that lenders were liable for paying undisclosed commission to car dealers who acted [...]
‘Temporary share price glitch’ sends Barclays shares lower February 13, 2025 Shares in Barclays slumped on Thursday morning after the bank posted its annual results. The Big Four bank reported a £8.1bn pre-tax profit, up 24 per cent from 2024, surpassing analyst expectations of £8.07bn. However, its stock dropped five per cent, as low as 290.34p after the market opened. Still, despite the drop, Peel Hunt [...]