By: Samuel Norman

Senior City Reporter Samuel is a Senior City Reporter covering banking and fintech as well as stories on capital markets and economics. He also leads on City AM's morning liveblog from 7am everyday. He has previously written for the Daily Mail and The i Paper and worked for Sky News as an election stringer. He enjoys writing in-depth analysis of major blue-chip firms and start-ups and also industry trends. He can be contacted at samuel.norman@cityam.com and posts on LinkedIn and X at x.com/samnormanwrites.

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Banks accused of ‘rigging the system’ against consumers

February 27, 2025

Britain’s top banks are “rigging the system” against consumers and the government must do more, a fintech chief executive has claimed. Financial wellbeing platform Wagestream found 90 per cent of Brits believe they should be saving money but nearly half fear they won’t save a single penny in 2025. The fintech’s ‘State of Financial Wellbeing [...]
Metro Bank returns to profit amid specialist lending pivot

February 27, 2025

Metro Bank swung back to profitability in the second half of the year as the bank pressed on with a move away from retail banking and towards specialist lending. The high street bank pulled ahead of guidance in its full-year posting, after a strong performance in the second half of 2024. The FTSE 250 lender [...]
Cairn Homes pockets double digit profit and revenue growth

February 27, 2025

Home builder Cairn Homes has reported double digit profit and revenue growth as the group benefitted from Ireland’s booming property market. The builder’s operating profit ballooned 32 per cent to €150m (£124m) in 2024 up from €113.4m (£94m) in 2023. Revenue was up 29 per cent at €859.9m (£711m), whilst operating costs reduced to 4.3 [...]
Aviva beats profit expectations amidst Direct Line takeover

February 27, 2025

Aviva Plc smashed expectations in its annual profit results amidst its landmark takeover of fellow insurer Direct Line. The FTSE 100 giant posted a 20 per cent increase in operating profit to £1.77bn in 2024. The target surpassed Bloomberg analyst expectations of £1.71bn. Shares in Aviva have returned 11 per cent so far this year, [...]
Yorkshire Building Society profit tumbles as margins fall

February 27, 2025

Profit took a tumble at Yorkshire Building Society, as declining interest rates tightened the firm’s interest margins. The building society booked a £385.2m profit in 2024, compared to the £453.7m pocketed in 2023. The decline was largely due to net interest income falling £49.5m year-on-year, as increased pressure on mortgage and saving books boosted reductions. [...]
St James’s Place swings to annual profit

February 27, 2025

St James’s Place swung to a profit in its annual results as the firm’s turnaround efforts continued to yield results. Britain’s largest wealth manager recorded a £398.4m pre-tax profit, compared to the loss of £9.9m the year prior. Gross inflows for the year totalled £18.4bn, compared to £15.4bn in 2023. Total assets under management at [...]
Metro Bank sells personal loan book in switch to specialist lending

February 26, 2025

Metro Bank is set to sell its £584m portfolio of unsecured personal loans as the lender switches prioritisation to specialist lending. The disposal, which was first flagged as a possibility at the end of January, will generate £11m in gains for the FTSE 250 bank. The deal – with an undisclosed buyer – comes ahead [...]
Barclays research: Regulation worsens investment anxiety

February 26, 2025

Barclays has called on the Government and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to fix investors’ “decision paralysis” through deregulation. How to invest money ranks as the second hardest decision in a person’s life, only behind whether to buy a house, according to fresh research from the bank. As the FCA, in a joint venture with the [...]
Skipton Building Society’s annual results boosted by first-time buyers

February 26, 2025

Skipton Group, which includes the UK’s largest estate agency, Connells and Skipton Building Society, has announced a record return of value to its members after a bumper year at the group. The group’s pre-tax profit fell to £318.6m in 2024, down from £333.4m the year prior. The group cited downward pressure on net interest income [...]
Nine in ten six-figure earners say they are not wealthy

February 26, 2025

An annual income of £213,000 has been declared the benchmark for ‘wealth‘ according to new research from HSBC. HSBC UK’s new report ‘Your Money’s Worth: Defining Wealth in 2025’ revealed nine in 10 high earners do not consider themselves wealthy, with only one per cent of the population identifying as so. The top four per [...]

The Masters delivers food now, and it’s desire wrapped in identity

The Masters delivers food now, and it’s desire wrapped in identity

Barbican Centre: the brutalist landmark weaving art into everyday London life.

By: Samuel Norman

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