Lloyds Bank profit poised to be held back by setting aside millions to cope with cost of living defaults February 20, 2023 A build up of reserves to cope with an expected jump in loan defaults and a slow down in the mortgage market is expected to have held back profits at Lloyds Bank last year, results out on Wednesday could show. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender is poised to be the latest bank to underwhelm markets in [...]
House prices rose just £14 last month as Bank of England rate hikes chill demand February 20, 2023 UK house prices rose by just £14 last month indicating possible buyers are turning their noses up at sellers slapping huge tickets on their homes, new figures out today reveal. The average asking price for a home in the UK came in at £362,452, making last month’s increase the smallest between January and February since [...]
Week ahead: UK January borrowing bill to hit £5bn to pay for cost of living support, experts predict February 19, 2023 Britain is expected to have borrowed around £5bn last month, largely to pay for household energy support, new figures out from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this week are poised to show. The difference between what the government spends and takes in tax revenue – the deficit – is likely to have been kept [...]
Up and Atom: How the Durham-based digital bank is taking on the high street stalwarts February 16, 2023 Lending, according to Atom Bank boss Mark Mullen, is back in vogue. While it’s a view that might run counter to some of the political disquiet towards Britain’s big high street lenders, for Durham-based digital lender Atom, it’s hard to argue with. The firm has tempted in hordes of customers this year and is on [...]
Barclays shares slump to bottom of FTSE 100 as investors take fright at profit drop February 15, 2023 Barclays shares tanked nearly eight per cent today, sending them to the bottom London’s FTSE 100 index, driven by investors fretting over the bank announcing today weaker than expected profits. The firm’s profit in the three months to December last year fell eight per cent to £1.3bn despite a £800m revenue bump, taking the lender’s [...]
Are house prices really going up? London had lowest change across UK with average in capital now £543,000 February 15, 2023 The average UK house price ended last year £26,000 higher than when 2022 started, although the annual pace of growth in property values is slowing. Property values increased by 9.8 per cent in the 12 months to December 2022, which was weaker than the 10.6 per cent annual growth recorded the previous month. London’s average [...]
‘Mortgage chaos’ of last few months eases as available deals surpass 4,000 February 13, 2023 The number of mortgage deals available has surpassed 4,000 for the first time in six months according to a financial information website. Moneyfacts.co.uk, which counts the number of mortgage products at the start of each month, said 4,341 deals were available on 1 February compared with 3,643 products at the start of January. Many mortgage [...]
UK banks set to report record profits of £37bn beating pre-financial crisis highs February 13, 2023 The UK’s top banks are set to unveil record profits in the next two weeks after sharp interest rate hikes boosted the lenders’ coffers last year. The big five FTSE 100 banks – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Standard Chartered – could post cumulative pre-tax profits of £37.4bn as they reveal their earnings for 2022, [...]
Bank chiefs hit back at accusations of profiteering on higher interest rates February 7, 2023 Chief executives from the UK’s four largest lenders today hit back at accusations from MPs that they were too quick to charge customers more interest on their mortgages without offering higher rates on savings accounts. The bank chiefs were asked why interest rates on instant savings accounts remain around one per cent while the Bank [...]
UK house prices slow to three-year low as cost of living crisis drags down London and South East property market February 7, 2023 In London, house prices fell from £541k to £530k iin January, with annual house price inflation flat at 0.0 per cent compared to 2.9 per cent in December.