HSBC profits slide on looming inflation default wave April 26, 2022 A deterioration in borrowers’ credit worthiness caused by a historic cost of living squeeze prompted Britain’s biggest lender HSBC to set aside millions of pounds to deal with a rise in defaults. The bank, which sources a large proportion of its profits from China and Asia, banked $600m (£470m) in reserves to cope with a [...]
The City View: Musk on cusp of Twitter buy, and global markets down April 25, 2022 Today Andy Silvester talks to Jack Barnett, City A.M.’s Economics and Markets reporter. They go through the global market dip and why China’s zero-Covid lockdowns are concerning investors; bank earnings for Q1; and new ONS data showing that 9 in 10 households have recorded an uptick in their cost of living. And in the news, [...]
Britain’s biggest banks in higher interest rate profit boost as earnings season kicks off April 24, 2022 Profits at Britain’s biggest high street lenders have been boosted by the Bank of England hiking interest rates to tame historic high inflation. That’s according to top City analysts who are forecasting the UK’s largest banks to have reaped the rewards of being able to charge borrowers more for loans. A higher interest rate environment [...]
Week ahead: City eyes cladding bill impact on house builders’ bottom lines April 24, 2022 Signs of the negative impact of the government turning to home builders to fix the cladding crisis is likely to draw City traders’ gaze in a week of jam packed corporate and economic announcements. London’s capital FTSE 100 index dipped 0.78 per cent to 7,521.68 over the last week, while the mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 [...]
UK housing market shows signs of stability with Brits’ reluctant to spend April 21, 2022 The UK’s housing market could be returning to stability, say analysts, before deals pick up as warmer weather blankets the country. Residential transactions for March have plunged more than a third in comparison with the same month last year, according to the government’s latest figures, after a continued, pandemic-era, buying frenzy. Although deals have climbed [...]
Henry Moser weighs up £2bn Together buyout April 17, 2022 Together Financial Services has asked private equity firms to submit indicative offers this month, valuing the company at £1.5bn.
Price of average UK home skyrockets to £276.7k as cost of living crunch clouds home ownership dreams April 13, 2022 The average price tag of a home in the UK hit £276,755 in February, according to government figures. Rising house prices come as Brits have been forced to tighten household purse strings amid historic levels of inflation. The annual price change for a property in the UK was 10.9 per cent. The average price of [...]
Middle class run on equity release: Cash-hungry home owners squeeze nearly £5bn out of their properties April 9, 2022 Equity release payments in the UK increased by almost £1bn in 2021, as more and more people look for alternative ways of ensuring healthy and happy retirements. Between 2020 – 2021, the amount of money released in the UK rose from £3.9bn to £4.8bn, an annual increase of £940 million, or 24.4 per cent, according [...]
BNP Paribas bags majority stake in Dutch asset manager April 1, 2022 BNP Paribas Asset Management has acquired a majority stake in Dutch asset manager and specialist lender Dynamic Credit Group. The deal brings the total assets under management to €20bn for BNP AM’s private debt and real assets investment division. BNPP’s David Bouchoucha said the deal “marks an important step” in the development of the French [...]
House price growth hits highest level since 2004 with record average of £265.3k March 31, 2022 Annual house price growth has increased to 14.3 per cent, from 12.6 per cent in February. According to Nationwide’s house price index, this was the strongest pace since November 2004. The price tag of the average home hit a new record of £265,312, an increase of more than £33,000 in the past year. Prices have [...]