FTSE 100 lenders pocket record total profit February 21, 2025 Standard Chartered was the last of the FTSE 100’s biggest banks to release its annual results, as analysts praised the strong performance across all of the Big Five. Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds and Standard Chartered booked an all-time high of £50.3bn in profit in 2024 and returned £35bn to investors. Russ Mould, investment director at [...]
Lloyds shares jump despite profit slump February 20, 2025 Lloyds Banking Group’s shares jumped three per cent following market open, despite recording a profit hit after the firm set aside additional funds for potential motor finance payouts. The FTSE 100 lender’s pre-tax profit was down 20 per cent at £6bn, compared to £7.5bn in 2023. Analysts estimated the bank’s profit before tax at £6.5bn, [...]
What happened when Latin America’s most free economy elected a socialist? February 20, 2025 Chile was the most capitalist country in Latin America and had prospered as a result. But since the election of socialist Gabriel Boric in 2021, all that has changed, says Rainer Zitelmann My trip around the world took me to Chile twice, in May 2022 and November 2023. After you’ve been to countries like Colombia, [...]
Mark Kleinman: FCA is naming and shaming itself, not the City February 20, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column. Today, he tackles name and shame at the FCA, a gamble at Entain and a business group revamp FCA is naming and shaming itself, not the City It’s rare to get a consensus this strong – but [...]
Borrowing boom to boost banks February 17, 2025 Banks have been given a boost after new data predicted borrowing growth would rise throughout 2025. After the Bank of England slashed interest rates three times in the last six months, research from EY Item Club anticipates total UK bank lending will rise to 3.7 per cent this year, up from 2.3 per cent in [...]
UK economy: Mixed signals for Rachel Reeves as GDP beats expectations February 13, 2025 You can tell it has been a bleak midwinter when quarterly growth figures of 0.1 per cent sets the pulses racing.
How Sweden left socialism behind February 13, 2025 The myth of socialist Sweden persists but in fact it has left many of the policies of the 70s and 80s behind and become one of the most market-oriented societies in the world, says Rainer Zitelmann For decades, the production and sale of alcohol was heavily regulated by the state in Sweden. When it came [...]
UK bosses to embrace M&A to stay ahead of digital curve February 12, 2025 Nearly all business bosses (99 per cent) said they expect to actively pursue transactions over the next year, according to EY's latest CEO outlook.
How Albania went from Europe’s socialist poorhouse to a narco-state February 6, 2025 Albania was once a socialist backwater with just 1,265 cars in the whole country. And though living standards have improved considerably since that time, it’s failure to transform into a true market economy has handed power to drug lords and driven the brightest and best to emigrate, says Rainer Zitelmann I was in Tirana, the [...]
Tax or cut? Rachel Reeves faces fiscal headache before OBR forecasts February 5, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will publish its latest assessment of the UK economy on 26 March.