‘The government aren’t the experts’: Liberal Democrats vow to push back controversial Pension Schemes Bill
What you need to know before the US open February 20, 2014 US stock index futures suggest markets will open lower, as investors look again towards ongoing emerging market turmoil. The continuing and severe violence in Ukraine at the moment has seen the country’s hryvnia plummet to five-year lows, and state debt insurance rising to 2009 highs. Weaker growth from China – the Markit/HSBC purchasing managers’ index [...]
January mortgage approvals up over a third from a year ago February 20, 2014 More fuel to stoke house price fear fires this morning, with added evidence that market activity started 2014 very much on the front foot. Mortgage approvals hit their highest level in six years in the final quarter of 2013, averaging 70,000. And in January, they were up 33 per cent year-on-year. According to figures from [...]
RBS pays £165m over mortgage sales in the US February 19, 2014 RBS SETTLED a class action case in the US yesterday, agreeing to pay disgruntled investors $275m (£165m) over mortgage-backed securities sold in the pre-crisis boom years. The bank also suspended a third foreign exchange trader this week as part of its internal probe into alleged abuse of the markets. Separately, RBS announced the sale of parts of [...]
Paragon becomes second new bank in 100 years February 18, 2014 Paragon Bank launches today after receiving a license from the authorities – the first new license since Metro Bank’s in 2010, making Paragon the second new bank in over 100 years. The bank’s parent group was already engaged in specialist lending such as buy to let mortgages. But this license allows it to [...]
Challenger banks face a Capital Catch 22: It’s time to level the playing field February 5, 2014 WANDER down any high street and you’ll see those well-known chain restaurants offering appetising food at a reasonable price. Then there are the one-off, often family-run eateries with their own unique menu – perhaps with a speciality that will one day become a staple of that household-name restaurant over the road. The larger chains, of [...]
Best of the Brokers for 4 February 2014 February 3, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SUPERGROUP Cantor Fitzgerald has raised its target price for the owner of the Superdry fashion label to 1,650p from 1,400p and kepts its “buy” recommendation. The broker expects the retailer to report third quarter like-for-like sales growth of three per cent and retail [...]
Mortgages lead lending pickup but firms see less from banks January 30, 2014 The UK saw mortgage approvals hit a six-year high of 71,638 in December, up 29.3 per cent year-on-year, according to the Bank of England (BoE). Lending for mortgages led the marginal pickup in bank lending, which was up 1.3 per cent year-on-year in December. Home lending rose by £1.7bn in December, higher than the £1.05bn [...]
What you need to know before the open – 30/01 January 30, 2014 European markets are expected lower this morning after the Fed’s open market committee made the unanimous decision last night to trim another $10bn off its asset purchase programme. In addition, PMI figures from China showed that manufacturing activity in the country contracted in January. Asian markets slipped on the news, with the Nikkei losing 3.2 [...]
Carpetright issues second profit warning as Netherlands business wears thin January 28, 2014 Flooring specialist Carpetright has issued a second profit warning this morning, as its Netherlands arm saw a “further deterioration”, with “extremely difficult economic conditions” persisting in the third quarter (13 weeks to 25 January). It expects full year underlying pre-tax profit to be "below the lower end of current market expectations." Carpetright, which operates in the [...]
London Report: Growth figures set to show UK’s strong recovery January 26, 2014 GROWTH figures for the fourth quarter are expected to give further proof of Britain’s booming recovery. Economists predict expansion of 0.8 per cent in the final three months – giving the UK its strongest yearly growth since 2007. Jonathan Loynes, of Capital economics, said: “We think that the preliminary estimate of GDP in the fourth [...]