Virgin Money boosts consumer loan book in ‘difficult market’ January 28, 2020 The UK’s sixth-largest lender Virgin Money oversaw a solid expansion of its personal and business loan book in the three months to December despite a “difficult market”, it announced today in a trading update. Virgin Money – which was bought by CYBG for £1.7bn in 2018 – also confirmed the worst is over in terms [...]
Profit tumbles at retirement specialist McCarthy & Stone January 28, 2020 Profit at UK retirement home-builder McCarthy & Stone dropped sharply last year against the backdrop of “a challenging market” and costs related to a new strategy, the firm announced today. Shares in the company were up 0.5 per cent in morning trading at 154.6p, however, indicating that investors were anticipating weak results. The figures Profit [...]
City watchdog demands banks explain similar overdraft pricing January 28, 2020 The City watchdog has demanded that high street lenders explain why they have aligned their new overdraft rates at around 40 per cent following a rule change. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will from April ban banks from charging more for unarranged overdrafts, in response to complaints that such fees were regularly 10 times as [...]
City must fix training and culture to beat skills crisis, says report January 28, 2020 Financial services firms face a staffing crisis if they do not improve workplace culture, purpose and diversity and better train their existing employees, a Treasury-commissioned report has found. The City has been left struggling to adapt as the top graduates are increasingly choosing the tech sector over financial services and the changing nature of the [...]
Coronavirus sends US markets into the red January 27, 2020 US stocks markets opened sharply lower this afternoon as investors grew fearful that the coronavirus outbreak – which has killed 81 – will damage the global economy. The S&P 500 was down 1.3 per cent shortly after the bell, while the Dow Jones was 1.2 per cent lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq had fallen 1.6 [...]
FTSE 100 ‘in panic mode’ as coronavirus fears push it into red January 27, 2020 FTSE 100 stocks have fallen deep into the red today as fears rise over the spread of coronavirus, which has now claimed 81 lives in China. Britain’s blue-chip index was down 2.3 per cent by 2pm at 7,412 as hoteliers, airlines and luxury goods firms with links to China suffered. As the death toll mounted, [...]
German business morale takes surprise hit in new year January 27, 2020 Morale among German businesses dropped unexpectedly in January, a survey has shown, weighing on hopes that Europe’s biggest economy would have a strong start to the year. The business climate index from the Ifo Institute think tank fell to 95.9 in January from 96.3 in December, falling well short of expectations that it would rise [...]
UK mortgage approvals surge in December January 27, 2020 British banks approved the most mortgages in four years in December, data from banking body UK Finance has shown, in the latest sign of green shoots in the UK economy. Yet mortgage lending in the UK fell in 2019 overall as the Britain’s housing market struggled under the weight of Brexit uncertainty, according to the [...]
Asian markets in the red as coronavirus fears rise January 27, 2020 Asian stock markets fell overnight as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China rose to 81 and fears mounted that it could soon cause fatalities elsewhere. Japan’s Nikkei index dropped two per cent, Indonesia’s Jakarta composite index fell 1.5 per cent and India’s S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.5 per cent. The growing death [...]
Coronavirus death toll hits 81 as cases spread January 27, 2020 The death toll from coronavirus climbed to 81 today as the Chinese government extended the Lunar New Year holiday while it struggled to cope with the outbreak. The number of confirmed cases rose roughly 30 per cent to 2,744, with about half of them in Hubei province, whose capital is Wuhan, where the outbreak is [...]
