Analyst Views: Are there business lines Barclays rely on for solid future growth? February 11, 2014 IAN GORDON | INVESTEC Fourth quarter investment bank revenues of £2.1bn were up two per cent quarter on quarter. Fixed income, currencies and commodities was up 12 per cent, which compares favourably with investment bank peers. The broad absence of negative one-offs is in stark contrast to loss-making UK domestic peers. SHAILESH RAIKUNDLIA | ESPIRITO [...]
Barclays hikes bonuses to hold onto top staff February 11, 2014 BARCLAYS has been forced to increase bonuses in a bid to attract the best staff in the US and Asia, where competition is particularly fierce, the bank’s boss said yesterday. The bonus pool increased by 10 per cent to £2.38bn, even as profits for 2013 fell 32 per cent to £5.2bn. Chief executive Antony Jenkins [...]
Europe’s biggest banks face risk from emerging market turmoil February 11, 2014 INTERNATIONAL banks like Barclays and Santander are at risk from the volatility which has struck some emerging markets in recent weeks, credit ratings agency Fitch warned yesterday. Although the risks are currently manageable, the analysts believe the danger could grow if there is contagion between more emerging and developed markets. Groupo Santander is the most exposed, [...]
Grocery sales grow at slowest pace since 2005 February 11, 2014 BRITAIN’S grocery market is growing at its slowest pace since 2005, with only discounters as well as Waitrose and Sainsbury’s defying the downturn and growing market share. Figures out yesterday from Kantar Worldpanel showed that grocery sales rose by 2.4 per cent in the 12 weeks to 2 February compared with the same time last [...]
Lloyds increases bonus pool 10 per cent to nearly £400m February 11, 2014 LLOYDS Banking Group is to award £395m in bonuses to staff for 2013, 10 per cent more than it paid out a year earlier. A Sky News report claims the bank reached an agreement with UK Financial Investments (UKFI) yesterday. UKFI manages the government’s 33 per cent stake in the high-street bank. The deal, set [...]
US investment group Varde sells half its stake in Crest Nicholson February 11, 2014 VARDE, the US investment group that at one stage was the controlling shareholder in Crest Nicholson, yesterday announced it had sold half its stake in the housebuilder which floated at the beginning of last year. Varde reported to the London Stock Exchange last night it intended to sell 25m shares in the company through an [...]
Ono siding with public float over Vodafone’s offer February 11, 2014 VODAFONE could dip into its £25bn acquisition fund to pursue a takeover bid of Ono, even if Spain’s second largest cable operator proceeds with its plans for a public float. Yesterday Ono’s board met to consider options of which an initial public offering (IPO) is understood to have been the prefered choice, despite rival €7bn [...]
Co-op given a warning over Lloyds in 2011 February 11, 2014 THE CO-OP Bank was warned in 2011 by the Bank of England that it needed to do more work to successfully take over 632 Lloyds branches – an effort which failed almost 18 months later. A letter from top regulator Andrew Bailey from December 2011 was published yesterday laying out his concerns over capital and governance. He [...]
New regulation to put brakes on mortgage lending in year ahead February 11, 2014 A TRIPLE whammy of regulation is likely to significantly restrain growth in the mortgage market, which remains subdued in comparison to pre-crisis activity. According to research released by the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) today, the onset of three new regulatory schemes will significantly dampen the mortgage market. The Mortgage Market Review begins this year, [...]
Highest confidence since 2007 for the UK’s bullish export firms February 11, 2014 EXPORTERS are at their most confident since the financial crisis but will still struggle to reach the government’s steep target for outward trade to reach £1 trillion by 2020, a survey says today. According to logistics firm DHL and the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), 72 per cent of exporters expect turnover to rise in [...]
