Hunt and big banks vow to ease mortgage pain with repossessions grace period June 23, 2023 Mortgage holders will get a 12-month grace period before banks begin repossessions on their homes, Jeremy Hunt has announced, after a crunch meeting with lenders at No11. The Chancellor said ministers were “particularly worried” about people falling behind on payments or having to switch deals at the end of a fixed rate mortgage. He announced [...]
NatWest, Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays and Santander leaders meet Jeremy Hunt in ‘productive’ mortgage crisis talks June 23, 2023 Bank bosses held a “productive” meeting with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as the rates increase worsens the mortgage crisis. Natwest chief executive Alison Rose, speaking to reporters as she left Downing Street, said lenders were “doing everything we can” and were “very keen” to help customers. Lloyds Banking Group boss Charlie Nunn described the meeting as [...]
Credit fears send bank shares lower after Bank of England lifts rates by 50bps June 22, 2023 Shares in the UK’s biggest banks today fell after the Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 basis points, heaping more pain onto borrowers. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee reverted to a larger rate hike after inflation remained stuck at 8.7 per cent last month. It was the 13th rate hike in a row [...]
Barclays, Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland to shut 63 more branches – including in London June 2, 2023 Two of the country’s biggest banking giants have announced they are slashing another 63 branches, taking away services from local communities around the UK. Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group between them announced a series of closures which are due to take place later this year or early next year. Barclays said on Friday it was [...]
UK mortgage holders will see payments rise to 30 per cent of their income, Barclays boss warns May 24, 2023 UK mortgage holders will see their monthly payments jump to up to 30% of their income from about 20% over the past few decades, the boss of Barclays has said. CS Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat, said the sharp rise in interest rates will lead to a “huge income shock” by the end of next year. [...]
FTSE 100 close: ASOS shares nosedive 22 per cent after posting dim results May 10, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 slipped in the City today as online fashion retailer ASOS was pummelled after a dim set of results. The capital’s premier index shed 0.29 per cent to close at 7,741.32 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, lost 0.15 per [...]
FTSE 100 close: Barclays and NatWest rise on London index as stalling house prices knock builders May 9, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 kick started a fresh week down today, with Britain’s biggest home builders sliding after new figures showed house price growth has stalled. The capital’s premier index nudged 0.18 per cent lower to 7,764.10 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, [...]
Barclays’ AGM disrupted by climate activists furious over bank’s fossil fuel investments May 3, 2023 Environmental protesters have disrupted banking giant Barclays’ annual meeting for shareholders in central London. A few minutes into the meeting, chairman Nigel Higgins was interrupted by a chorus of singers causing several minutes of disruption. Singing a version of the Spice Girls’ Thank You Very Much, the group sang: “Stop right now, no more oil [...]
Venkat: Barclays boss at ’95 per cent’ after cancer scare as he warns on UK economy April 30, 2023 The Barclays boss Venkat has said he is running at ’95 per cent’ after a cancer scare at the back end of last year. Coimbatore Sundararajan Venkatakrishnan, better known as Venkat, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma last autumn, but has told The Sunday Times that “my energy levels are 95 per cent – not 100 [...]
Natwest profits soar but customers withdraw £1bn as cost of living and tax bills bite April 28, 2023 Natwest has beaten profit expectations during the first three months of this year. Natwest Group, which includes Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, recorded a pretax profit of £1.8bn in the three months ending 31 March. The total comes in ahead of analysts’ expectations of £1.6bn for the quarter and ahead of the £1.2bn during [...]