Freddie Mac asks for a fresh $1.8bn bailout as makes fourth loss in a row August 9, 2010 MORTGAGE lending giant Freddie Mac is seeking $1.8bn (£1.1bn) in aid from the US Government after bad home loans prompted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss. Freddie Mac, the second largest provider of funding for US residential mortgages, said it lost $6bn, or $1.85 per share, in the April-to-June period. The company is required to pay [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS August 5, 2010 MS LAUNCHES NEW GROWTH PLAN Morgan Stanley this week announced the launch of its FTSE Gilt-Backed Growth Plan 4, which offers investors a fixed return equivalent to 8.5 per cent a year, paid on the first anniversary that the FTSE records flat or positive performance. If this does not happen, then investors still have some [...]
Halifax reports a rise in UK house prices in July August 4, 2010 FEARS of a double-dip in the UK housing market dissipated somewhat yesterday after mortgage lender Halifax reported that house prices rose by 0.6 per cent in July. Last month’s rise entirely offset the June drop in prices and the average price of a UK house now stands at £167,425. This is slightly below where they [...]
Taylor Wimpey returns to profit August 3, 2010 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey swung to a first-half profit and said trading is satisfactory. The company kicked off first-half results from British housebuilders by posting a pretax profit before exceptional items of £19.6m, compared with a loss of £68.9m in the same period last year. After exceptional items, its profit reduced for the six months to [...]
Let’s stop whining about tight credit August 2, 2010 How unfair. I have a great idea for a new website but my bank doesn’t want to lend me the £50m I need to start it up. It claims not to like my business plan but that can’t possibly be right. What can I do? Oh, I know, I’ll tell my MP. It’s perfect timing: [...]
Dramatic recovery for Britain’s banks August 1, 2010 BANKS will come under renewed pressure to extend credit to small businesses this week as the UK’s five largest lenders reveal combined pre-tax profits of nearly £12bn. With the stronger players returning to pre-financial crisis levels of success, a fresh row is brewing between politicians – who are demanding more finance for enterprises – and [...]
Bradford & Bingley back in the black July 30, 2010 Bradford & Bingley, the mortgage lender which was nationalised after running into problems during the credit crisis, said on Friday it had swung to a first-half profit after making a loss a year earlier. The bank reported a pretax profit of £896m for the six months ending June 30, having made a loss of £160m [...]
House price fall fuels fear of double-dip July 29, 2010 FEARS of a sustained double-dip in Britain’s property market intensified yesterday after mortgage lender Nationwide reported that house prices fell this month for the first time since February and the Bank of England revealed that mortgage approvals dropped to a four-month low in June. The latest figures from Nationwide showed that house prices fell by [...]
Mortgage approvals dip July 29, 2010 MORTGAGE approvals fell more than expected in June and lending was also weaker than forecast, Bank of England figures showed. The Bank of England said mortgage approvals – a gauge of house prices in the future – numbered 47,643 in June, falling from a downwardly revised 49,461 in May and below forecasts for a reading [...]
Former Northern Rock finance chief fined July 27, 2010 THE former finance director of Northern Rock, the bank which nearly collapsed during the credit crisis and had to be nationalised, has been slapped with a fine for mis-reporting mortgage arrears figures. Financial Services Authority (FSA) officials confirmed that David Jones had been ordered to pay £320,000. It also banned him from “performing any function [...]