Barclays secures income and profit growth as it shakes off ex-CEOs woes April 28, 2022 Barclays has kicked off the year with income and profit growth, as it navigates ongoing geopolitical and economic obstacles – and tries to shake off its former CEO’s woes. The British lender reported income was climbing 10 per cent to £6.5bn in the first quarter, alongside profit before tax of £2.2bn – which includes the [...]
UK high street lenders whipsaw on muddled day of trading in the City April 27, 2022 The UK’s biggest high street lenders whipsawed in the City today after giving up morning gains that initially boosted London’s top indexes. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index closed 0.53 per cent higher at 7,425.61 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, dipped [...]
Lloyds warns of looming defaults on cost of living shock April 27, 2022 The cost of living shock that is rippling throughout household finances is increasing the chances of borrowers defaulting on their debts, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender warned today. Worsening economic conditions triggered by inflation scaling to 30-year highs is likely to lead to greater financial distress among Brits, Lloyds Bank said today. The bleak assessment touches [...]
Boris Johnson hints at childcare announcement as PM will chair new committee to tackle raging cost of living crisis April 26, 2022 Boris Johnson will chair a committee to tackle the cost of living crisis in the coming weeks, Downing Street said. One of the announcements will most likely include a childcare measure. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister will chair a domestic and economic strategy committee in the coming weeks to finalise the [...]
HSBC profits slide on looming inflation default wave April 26, 2022 A deterioration in borrowers’ credit worthiness caused by a historic cost of living squeeze prompted Britain’s biggest lender HSBC to set aside millions of pounds to deal with a rise in defaults. The bank, which sources a large proportion of its profits from China and Asia, banked $600m (£470m) in reserves to cope with a [...]
The City View: Musk on cusp of Twitter buy, and global markets down April 25, 2022 Today Andy Silvester talks to Jack Barnett, City A.M.’s Economics and Markets reporter. They go through the global market dip and why China’s zero-Covid lockdowns are concerning investors; bank earnings for Q1; and new ONS data showing that 9 in 10 households have recorded an uptick in their cost of living. And in the news, [...]
Britain’s biggest banks in higher interest rate profit boost as earnings season kicks off April 24, 2022 Profits at Britain’s biggest high street lenders have been boosted by the Bank of England hiking interest rates to tame historic high inflation. That’s according to top City analysts who are forecasting the UK’s largest banks to have reaped the rewards of being able to charge borrowers more for loans. A higher interest rate environment [...]
Week ahead: City eyes cladding bill impact on house builders’ bottom lines April 24, 2022 Signs of the negative impact of the government turning to home builders to fix the cladding crisis is likely to draw City traders’ gaze in a week of jam packed corporate and economic announcements. London’s capital FTSE 100 index dipped 0.78 per cent to 7,521.68 over the last week, while the mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 [...]
Center Parcs owner hires bankers to review options with £4bn sale on the horizon April 22, 2022 The owner of Center Parcs has recruited bankers to probe options for the future of the holiday village chain. Sky News has reported that Brookfield Property Partners is planning to hire Barclays to advise on its investment in Center Parcs. This could lead to an auction sale of the chain for £4bn, the organisation reported. [...]
Barclays sells off half of Absa stake for £526m April 21, 2022 Barclays announced today it has sold off a major chunk of its remaining stake in South African banking group Absa for £526m as it continues to shed its holdings in the firm.