FTSE 100 lenders cash in on market turmoil but provisions climb May 5, 2025 FTSE 100 banking giants saw trading income spike in the first quarter as investors sold-off stocks in the face of geopolitical tensions, but tariff threats continued to weigh on future earnings. HSBC kicked off reporting season pocketing a $9.5bn (£7.1bn) pre-tax profit, which surged ahead of the $7.8bn pencilled in by analysts. Barclays and Natwest [...]
Lloyds costs soar as lender increases provisions after tariff turmoil May 1, 2025 Lloyds Banking Group’s profit took a hit in the first three months of the year as the domestic-focused bank’s operating costs soared. The FTSE 100 giant, which includes Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, met analyst expectations for pre-tax profit at £1.5bn – marking a seven per cent drop from the first quarter of 2024. [...]
Clearbank, Allica, Atom: The fast-growing future of UK fintech April 19, 2025 Fintech has planted its flag firmly in the Square Mile. Industry giants Monzo and Starling have become household names, helping London to established itself as a leading global fintech hub. KPMG’s bi-annual fintech report showed UK fintech investment was at £7.9bn last year. And now young firms are growing faster than ever, promising to send a [...]
House prices rise at their fastest in two years March 26, 2025 New data shows that in January, house prices rose rapidly in Northern England and Yorkshire. Average UK house prices increased by 4.9 per cent to £269,000 in the 12 months to January 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This annual growth rate is up from 4.6 per cent in the 12 months [...]
Persimmon: Housebuilder posts uptick in profit amid housing market recovery March 11, 2025 Housebuilder Persimmon has reported an uptick in house completions and profit after two years of steep declines. The York-based company completed 10,664 homes in the year ended December 31, up seven per cent year on year. Revenue from new housing rose £2.86bn from £2.54bn while underlying profit before tax rose 10 per cent to £395.1m. [...]
Housebuilder Persimmon to post higher profit amid slow recovery in demand March 9, 2025 Housebuilder Persimmon is expected to report a rebound in profits next week after two years of steep declines, after the housing market made a slow recovery in 2024. The FTSE 100 company will post its financial results for last year on Tuesday In January, Persimmon said profit would come in towards the top end of [...]
What do falling interest rates mean for my finances? February 14, 2025 The Bank of England trimmed interest rates to 4.5 percent in February, the first of what could be multiple cuts this year aimed at kickstarting the UK’s weak economic growth. This raises questions about what loosening monetary policy could mean for savers’ finances. The BoE now expects GDP growth “to be notably weaker in the near [...]
Could the Bank of England push the UK into recession? January 23, 2025 As the Bank of England scrambles to unwind the disastrous effects of quantitative easing, the hidden costs of this policy are becoming clear, says Damian Pudner Quantitative easing (QE) has long been the Bank of England’s monetary policy nuclear option. Launched in 2009 to save a collapsing financial system, it was supercharged during the pandemic, [...]
Wall Street claws back week’s losses thanks to strong jobs report October 5, 2024 US stocks rallied on Friday after a surprisingly strong report on the US job market raised optimism about the economy. The S&P 500 climbed 0.9 per cent and got close to its all-time high set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 341 points, or 0.8 per cent, to set its own record, while [...]
Barratt: Profit halves at housebuilder but firm optimistic after Redrow deal September 4, 2024 Housebuilder Barratt reported a halving in profit and drop in completions amid a challenging housing market, but has said it is optimistic about the future. Barratt said its total home completions in the year ended 30 June reached 14,004, down 18.6 per cent from 17,206 in 2023 but at the upper end of the company’s [...]