TSB moves to snap up £16bn Bradford & Bingley portfolio November 20, 2016 TSB has put an offer on the table for a £16bn mortgage loan portfolio which belonged to Bradford & Bingley. The government has been slowly but surely selling the assets it picked up in the fallout of the financial crisis, which includes parts of Bradford & Bingley's business. Now, the Sunday Times has reported UK [...]
These are the top 10 most transparent FTSE 100 firms – showing it pays (£24bn) to be open November 16, 2016 Sometimes, reading through the London Stock Exchange’s RNS feed, it feels as though certain companies just don’t want to be understood. Others, clearly, do: a new study has named the top 10 FTSE 100 companies for transparency. Arm, the Cambridge-based chip designer that was acquired by Japan’s SoftBank for £24bn this summer, was named as [...]
Businesses give thumbs up to fourth quarter so far November 14, 2016 Businesses across the country have reported a strong October, as they enter the final stretch of a somewhat unpredictable year. The Lloyds Bank Regional Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey, which was released today, found the UK's PMI had reached a nine-month high of 54.8, up from 53.9 in September, as demand floods in from overseas buyers looking [...]
Remembrance Day 2016 in pictures: Two minutes’ silence held across London’s landmarks November 11, 2016 City-dwellers paused for two minutes' silence in memory of fallen soldiers this morning, while Londoners stopped in their tracks at their workplaces, landmarks and on the streets. Lloyds of London ground to a halt and 11am was marked by the traditional ringing of the Lutine bell in the insurer's atrium. Brokers gathered on balconies to observe the silence. (Source: [...]
Bank shares tanked on Donald Trump’s triumph November 9, 2016 Banks' shareholders were clearly less than thrilled about who won the race to the White House this morning, but are learning to live with it this afternoon. After dipping initially this morning, shares for the big banks listed in London have now recovered. Shares in HSBC are currently up 0.1 per cent at 620.6p, Lloyds Banking Group [...]
Premier shares dip as lender exit fears rise November 8, 2016 Shares in struggling oil explorer Premier dipped yesterday amid fears lenders were backing out of the company's syndicated loans. Despite attempts by Premier to calm the market, investors sent shares in the company 11 per cent lower by the London close. Selling was sparked by media reports yesterday that said Lloyds Bank was selling out of [...]
Hiscox to scale back Lloyd’s operations after revealing that rates are under “severe pressure” November 7, 2016 One of the best known Lloyd's insurers today revealed a strategic pivot, saying its London market operations will "shrink materially" next year. Hiscox, whose Lloyd's footprint can be traced back over 70 years, said it can't generate enough profit when underwriting aviation, marine and energy and US large property policies in particular. Chief exec Bronek Masojada said that [...]
HSBC’s shares rise four per cent despite larger-than-expected profit slump after Brazil disposal November 7, 2016 HSBC's share price rose by more than four per cent this morning, despite a sharper-than-expected slump in profits in the third quarter – although stripping out currency fluctuations, things looked rather better… The figures Pre-tax profit at the British lender fell 86 per cent to $843m in the quarter ended 30 September, down from $6.1bn in [...]
Number of million-pound house sales on the rise November 5, 2016 The number of homes sold for £1m or more has jumped by 12 per cent this year – and nearly two thirds of them are bough in London. According to a report from Lloyds Bank, the sales of homes above £1m increased from 5,946 in the first half of 2015 to 6,684 during the first [...]
City Moves for 4 November 2016 | Who’s switching jobs November 4, 2016 Hastings Group Hastings Group has appointed Teresa Robson-Capps and Alison Burns as non-executive directors with immediate effect. Teresa is currently a non-executive director and member of the audit committee for Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group and is chairman of the ACS Group. She was previously a non-executive director for National Australia Bank; Europe/Clydesdale Bank. Teresa brings significant [...]