Carpetright mulls cut-price £15m takeover bid from largest shareholder October 31, 2019 Embattled retailer Carpetright is in last ditch rescue talks with its biggest investor. The flooring specialist is mulling a £15.2m offer from its largest shareholder, Meditor, amid fears that it will not be able to pay off its debt pile. Read more: Retail stockpiling soars on Brexit uncertainty The takeover offer of 5p a share [...]
Lloyds Banking Group profit slumps 97 per cent after £1.8bn PPI hit October 31, 2019 Lloyds Banking Group narrowly avoided tipping into the red this morning after taking a major third-quarter dent from the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). The lender’s pre-tax profits were reduced to £50m, falling 97 per cent from the same period last year after setting aside £1.8bn for PPI provisions. Read more: UK banking sector [...]
Treasury committee urges reform of ‘broken’ business rates system October 31, 2019 Calls for the government to rethink its business rates system are being made in the run-up to the general election, with politicians and businesses urging reform amid mounting pressure on Britain’s high streets. An influential group of MPs has asked the government to examine alternatives to the controversial property tax, which generated more than £30bn [...]
Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal could inflict ‘£70bn hit’ on UK economy October 30, 2019 The UK economy could suffer a £70bn hit from Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, according to a new report from an influential think tank. New research from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has claimed that GDP in 10 years would be 3.5 per cent weaker under Johnson’s deal than if Britain were [...]
Credit Suisse profit doubles amid rise in wealth management business October 30, 2019 Profits at Credit Suisse more than doubled during the last three months following a robust performance in its flagship wealth management arm. The Swiss lender reported net profits of SFr751m for the third quarter, jumping 108 per cent when compared with the same period in the previous year. Read more: Deutsche Bank posts losses amid [...]
Deutsche Bank losses hit €832m amid restructuring and revenue slump October 30, 2019 Deutsche Bank posted deepening losses during the last three months as the troubled German lender pressed ahead with a costly turnaround plan. A double-digit drop in revenues and costs from the firm’s major restructuring pushed losses down to €832m (£718m) over the quarter, compared with profit of €229m in the same period last year. Read [...]
Standard Chartered trumps expectations as profit jumps to $1.2bn October 30, 2019 Standard Chartered shrugged off troubles in its embattled Hong Kong market this morning after trumping estimates with a double-digit rise in profit. Adjusted pre-tax profits climbed 16 per cent year-on-year to $1.2bn (£900m) during the last quarter, surging 17 per cent ahead of the City’s consensus forecasts. A sharp rise in business from corporate clients [...]
UK charges drag down profit at Santander October 30, 2019 Santander’s net profit slumped during the third-quarter as one-off charges in the UK blighted Europe’s biggest lender. The Spanish bank reported attributable profit of €501m (£432m) in the last three months, diving 75 per cent when compared to the same quarter a year ago. Read more: UK banking sector coughs up £40bn in tax Brexit [...]
UK banking sector coughs up £40bn as tax burden mounts October 30, 2019 Banks in the UK stumped up almost £40bn for the Treasury coffers in the last year as the tax burden facing lenders mounted. Taxes borne by the banking sector have soared by 50 per cent over the past five years, according to a report out today from trade body UK Finance and accountancy giant PwC. [...]
Single cyber attack on Asian-Pacific ports could cost $110bn October 30, 2019 A single cyber attack on Asia-Pacific ports could cost as much as $110bn (£85bn), Lloyd’s of London has claimed. The historic insurance market has published a report warning that the global economy is unprepared for a scenario in which an extreme computer virus could infect 15 ports across Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and China. [...]
