Recession? Five graphs that show where the UK economy is and where it is heading March 31, 2023 Are we in a recession? Aren’t we in a recession? Are we headed into a recession? At this point, who knows. At the start of the year, everyone said “yes definitely, and a bad one”. Now, those projections look a bit overcooked. Essentially, it’s on a knife edge. City A.M. takes a look at the [...]
Broadband, mobile bills and council tax rises threaten ‘awful April’ for householders already facing cost of living crisis March 31, 2023 Households battling the cost of living crisis are facing an onslaught of price hikes that could leave the average family hundreds of pounds a year worse off. From April 1, millions of people will face increases to their broadband, mobile, water and council tax bills. Most local authorities are putting up council tax by 5 [...]
No new taxes: Labour’s Reeves pledges not to increase CGT limit March 30, 2023 Labour does not plan to increase capital gains tax, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has indicated, despite deputy leader Angela Rayner appearing to suggest rates were too low. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last week released a summary of his tax affairs, which showed that his tax rate was about 22 per cent because most of his [...]
Arbuthnot profit leaps after rate hikes but bank backs ‘conservative’ model as UK prospects ‘not clear’ March 30, 2023 Arbuthnot Latham saw its profit surge with rising interest rates boosting its coffers, as the lender sought to distance itself from recent difficulties in the banking sector. Pretax profit in 2022 lept to £20m, up from just £4.6m last year as net interest income grew by over £30m. The boutique bank said this increase [...]
Bank of England backs ‘substantial’ LDI cash buffer boost to prevent repeat of mini budget chaos March 29, 2023 Pension funds that borrow hundreds of billions of pounds to maximise returns for clients need to keep more money aside to withstand a repeat of the financial market aftershocks which followed Liz Truss’s mini-budget, the Bank of England has recommended. Liability driven investment (LDI) funds that are used by retirement funds to boost returns for [...]
UK banks still ‘resilient’ but BoE warns of ‘urgent need’ to address less regulated areas of finance sector March 29, 2023 UK banks are “resilient” despite global banking turmoil, the Bank of England said today, but warned there was an “urgent need” for further rules in the less tightly regulated market-based finance sector. Amidst volatility in the financial sector following Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and the emergency acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS, the Bank reaffirmed [...]
The Notebook: Neil Bennett on corporate disasters, Paris on fire and signs of hope for Wandisco March 29, 2023 One of my favourite business quotes comes, inevitably, from Warren Buffett: “It is only when the tide goes out, that you discover who has been swimming naked.” In the past two weeks it has become clear that the recent rapid tightening of rates has created to a strong ebb tide, and that there is an [...]
Tax year end: Six ways to invest a £100,000 bonus March 28, 2023 Next week marks the end of the 2022/23 tax year, with midnight on 5 April the deadline for using available tax-free savings and investment allowances. Last December saw city workers awarded bumper bonuses and seven in ten City workers still expect their bonus to be as large as – if not ‘larger’ or ‘significantly larger’ [...]
Start-up apocalypse? Cash crunch could wipe out venture-backed firms this year, Morgan Stanley warns March 28, 2023 Start-ups backed by venture capital (VC) could be wiped out in droves this year as cash dries up and investors turn off the taps, analysts have warned.
North Sea oil and gas firms are struggling despite BP and Shell record profits, industry body warns March 28, 2023 The record earnings of BP and Shell do not reflect the challenges most North Sea producers face from the windfall tax, argued OEUK.