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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Analysts say ‘Buy’ Natwest shares after annual results

February 14, 2025

Analysts have slapped a ‘Buy’ rating on Natwest shares after the bank’s annual results beat expectations. Peel Hunt analysts Robert Sage and Stuart Duncan said the lender’s strong performance in 2024 increased “conviction that market expectations can be delivered”. Natwest reported a £6.2bn pre-tax profit for 2024, up 0.3 per cent on 2023’s headline figure, [...]
Natwest skims past profit expectations

February 14, 2025

Natwest narrowly beat analysts’ annual profit expectations after posting a bump in its consumer lending. The FTSE 100 lender posted a £6.2bn pre-tax profit, ahead of £6.1bn pencilled in by analysts and up 0.3 per cent on 2023. Net loans to customers hit £368.5bn, an increase of £12.9bn, which reflected Natwest’s acquisition of Metro Bank’s [...]
Wealthiest adults do not financially plan for marriage

February 13, 2025

Only one in five of the UK’s wealthiest adults discuss financial planning ahead of marriage, according to fresh research. Among a survey of 500 UK adults, who have at least £1.5 million in investable assets or total assets of £15 million, 93 per cent agreed planning for unexpected life events, such as divorce, was crucial [...]
Crypto fraud surges after Donald Trump’s re-election

February 13, 2025

Crypto platforms have been warned the industry is at a “critical juncture” after a Sumsub report showed a spike in fraud cases. The verification platform’s State of the Crypto Industry 2025 said fraud cases were up 48 per cent, with document forgery making up 31 per cent of detected cases in the last year. Following [...]
Barclays puts aside £90m for motor finance scandal

February 13, 2025

Barclays announced in its annual results it had set aside £90m to cover potential motor finance payouts, amidst ongoing disputes over the misconduct row. This follows the landmark Court of Appeal’s October 2024 judgment, ruling in favour of three consumers and determining that lenders were liable for paying undisclosed commission to car dealers who acted [...]
‘Temporary share price glitch’ sends Barclays shares lower

February 13, 2025

Shares in Barclays slumped on Thursday morning after the bank posted its annual results. The Big Four bank reported a £8.1bn pre-tax profit, up 24 per cent from 2024, surpassing analyst expectations of £8.07bn. However, its stock dropped five per cent, as low as 290.34p after the market opened. Still, despite the drop, Peel Hunt [...]
Barclays beats expectations after Tesco Bank takeover

February 13, 2025

Barclays surpassed analyst expectations in its annual results report on Thursday, after a strong year for its investment banking arm and day one benefits of its Tesco Bank takeover. The FTSE 100 bank reported a pretax profit of £1.7bn in the fourth quarter, ahead of the £1.62bn expected by analysts. For 2024 as a whole, the [...]
Rich people’s problems: Confidence in economy hits record low among wealthy Brits

February 13, 2025

Confidence in the economy among high net worth Brits has tanked since the election of a Labour government last summer, according to data from the Saltus Wealth Index. The study, which questioned 2,000 people in the UK with assets of £250,000 or more, revealed just under half – 48 per cent – of these so-called [...]
Barclays and Natwest to set tone for Big Four banks in year ahead

February 12, 2025

As Britain’s Big Four banks prepare to post annual results, analysts expect “strong” performances, but warned of long-term challenges. Barclays and Natwest will lead the first round of results this week, with the pair reporting on Thursday and Friday respectively. This will be followed by HSBC on February 19 and Lloyds on February 20. The [...]
Goldman Sachs scraps diversity rule that ‘served its purpose’

February 12, 2025

Goldman Sachs has scrapped a diversity rule which barred it from advising all male, all white boards on company flotations. The now-ditched rule stated the investment bank would only help a business sell its shares on a stock exchange if it had two board members that fitted diversity requirements – one of whom had to [...]

Starmer not told Mandelson was denied security clearance

Trump-hating Fifa World Cup fans should have costs paid if denied visa

Avenue Q is wonderfully lawless chaos (with very rude puppets)

By: Samuel Norman

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