PPI, profit drop, and a mixed 2020: Five takeaways from Lloyds’ results February 20, 2020 Lloyds reported a 26 per cent drop in annual profit on Thursday, with Britain’s largest domestic lender hit by a rise in bad debts and billions of pounds of customer compensation payout. Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said the results demonstrated a “solid financial performance in a challenging external market”, but analysts have described them as [...]
UBS hires ING boss Ralph Hamers as new chief executive February 20, 2020 UBS has named ING boss Ralph Hamers as successor to current chief executive Sergio Ermotti. In a surprise announcement late last night, UBS said Hamers would leave Dutch lender ING in June. Hamers will join Ermotti for a transition period in September before taking the helm at Switzerland’s largest bank in November. ING said that [...]
Chief executive of recruiter Staffline resigns after string of profit warnings February 20, 2020 Staffline has announced the resignation of chief executive Chris Pullen, weeks after the recruiting firm issued a profit warning due to an ongoing accounting review. The company had warned last month that annual adjusted profit would be materially below prior forecasts. The company issued three profit warnings in 2019, delayed publishing its annual results, and [...]
A quarter of FTSE companies faced shareholder dissent in 2019 February 20, 2020 Investors cranked up the pressure on British companies last year, with a quarter of firms on the FTSE All-Share hit by shareholder dissent, according to new figures. Some 158 of the 641 firms on the index experienced significant investor rebellions in 2019, with executive pay and the re-election of directors among shareholders’ biggest concerns, according [...]
New £20 note enters circulation: Everything you need to know February 20, 2020 The Bank of England’s new polymer £20 note enters circulation for the first time today. The note, which was first unveiled in October, features British painter JMW Turner, will start appearing at ATMs and tills throughout the country today. The BoE said it expects half of ATMS across Britain to be dispensing polymer £20 notes [...]
Metro Bank hands interim chief executive the top job February 19, 2020 Metro Bank has announced that interim chief executive Dan Frumkin will take the top job at the bank. Frumkin, who will be a paid a £740,000 salary, joined Metro Bank last September as chief transformation officer from The Bank of NT Butterfield & Son, based in Bermuda. He took the interim role when former boss [...]
Softbank set to invest $100m in AI startup Behavox February 19, 2020 Softbank is reportedly close to investing $100m (£77m) in a startup which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help financial firms monitor employees’ behaviour. Softbank’s second Vision Fund is on the verge of signing the deal with Behavox, Sky News reported, which could be finalised as soon as next week. Behavox, which was founded in the [...]
T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom forecasts slower core earnings growth February 19, 2020 Deutsche Telekom has forecast that growth in its core earnings will slow to three per cent this year after a strong end to last year, as the T-Mobile owner looks to complete a merger to create the third largest wireless carrier in the US. The telecoms firm said it expected adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, [...]
JP Morgan shakes up leadership of its investment bank February 18, 2020 JP Morgan is reshuffling the senior management of its investment bank, naming two new global co-heads and shifting other executives into roles focused on bringing in business. The investment banking giant has launched a sweeping reshuffle of top employees in an attempt to promote the next generation of talent while retaining senior staff amid stiff [...]
Retail investors exposed to too much risk, says City watchdog February 18, 2020 Retail investors are being pushed into purchasing higher risk products that expose them to more risk than they can afford, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned. In its annual report on the areas that could harm consumers, the City watchdog said that the sale of “unsuitable or fraudulent products” represents the most significant harm [...]
