Nationwide in 69 per cent profit fall on protection fees May 27, 2009 NATIONWIDE, Britain’s largest building society, reported a 69 per cent drop in full-year pre-tax profits yesterday, blaming the decline on the costs of the government’s deposit protection scheme for savers. The mortgage provider and lender offered little sign of optimism in its outlook, warning of further loan loss provisions to come.The group said it was [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 26, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES CHEVRON EXPECTED TO COME UNDER FIRE OVER LAWSUIT IN ECUADORChevron is expected to come under fire from shareholders over its environmental record in Ecuador, which has left the world’s third-largest oil company facing potential liabilities of $27bn. Investors, as well as indigenous and farming communities from Ecuador’s Amazon, are set to attack Chevron [...]
REALITY CHECK AS UK DEFICIT SOARS May 21, 2009 TENTATIVE signs of a recovery in the UK economy were dramatically overshadowed yesterday when credit ratings agency S&P downgraded its outlook on UK debt and the scale of the crisis in the public finances was laid bare. S&P lowered its outlook on the UK’s prized AAA credit rating to “negative” from “stable”, giving a one [...]
British Land shares suffer as values cut May 21, 2009 SHARES in British Land took a battering yesterday after the company wrote down £3.2bn on the value of its property portfolio, reviving fears that banks will suffer huge losses from commercial mortgage lending. Announcing its annual results, the commercial property group said its net asset value tumbled 64 per cent to 398p a share, well [...]
West Brom denies it is in loans crisis May 17, 2009 WEST Bromwich Building Society yesterday denied that it is on the brink of failure after reports emerged that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) was seeking a “white-knight” bidder in a last-ditch effort to save the 160-year-old mutual. The regulator was said yesterday to have been so alarmed after seeing an early version of the lender’s [...]
House asking prices rocket May 17, 2009 THE average asking price of a UK property has leapt by 2.4 per cent this month to £227,441, according to data from property website Rightmove data published today. The rise marks the largest monthly increase in asking prices since 2003 when property prices were on a rising trend, but overall asking prices remain 6.2 per [...]
Savvy homeowners considering whether to lock themselves into a fixed-rate loan May 14, 2009 WE all know that interest rates are at record lows levels, and that those with tracker mortgages are rubbing their hands in glee. Indeed, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said this week that mortgage costs are at their lowest since 2004. But it won’t last for ever. With some suggesting that the economy could start [...]
Q&A: BUYING May 14, 2009 Q. Dear Camilla, I’m looking to buy a property but have we reached the bottom of the market or do prices have further to fall? A. Prices have fallen between 15 and 20 percent since the peak of the market, which was March 2008 for London. At the beginning of this year most analysts were [...]
Nationwide merger will suit all sides September 8, 2008 Nationwide’s merger with The Derbyshire Building Society and The Cheshire Building Society, which was confirmed yesterday, will see it stretch its lead at the top of the list of UK mortgage lenders. The tie-up will hand the building society an extra 95 branches to add to the 900 retail locations it already operates, reinforcing its [...]
Rights issue to fall flat at troubled B&B August 15, 2008 Bradford & Bingley’s attempt to raise cash could see a take up as low as 8 per cent Bradford and Bingley faces a meagre take-up of its rights issue when it closes at 11am today, with shareholder support expected to be minimal. Shares in the troubled mortgage lender have skirted the 55p issue price for [...]