Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s interest rate rise comments prompted a flurry of house buying in July August 27, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney's suggestion that the rate decision will "likely come into sharper relief around the turn of this year" has prompted a flurry of homebuying, new figures suggest. Demand for houses rose 4.1 per cent in the year to July, and 5.3 per cent in the last month alone, according to [...]
Aldermore shares jump nine per cent as it reports strong rise in profits as loans increase August 27, 2015 Challenger bank Aldermore reported a strong rise in profits in the first half as it issued more loans to small and medium-sized businesses. Aldermore's share price has jumped nine per cent on the news. The figures The bank reported underlying profit before tax of £44m for the first half of 2015, an increase of 109 [...]
China fears hit again to push FTSE back down – London Report August 27, 2015 DESPITE rallying from China-related fears on Tuesday, the UK’s top share index sank yesterday, ending up not far from its lowest closing levels since the end of 2012. Data showing an unexpected pick-up in UK retail sales and an increase in mortgage approvals offered encouraging signals on the domestic economy but failed to stem selling. [...]
Looming bank tax fails to dampen spirits at OneSavings Bank August 27, 2015 Specialist lender OneSavings Bank yesterday announced a 60 per cent increase in profit in the six months to 30 June, and said it remains confident that it will continue to “exceed financial objectives” in 2016 despite the new UK bank corporation tax. The challenger bank reported an underlying profit before tax of £47.6m, exceeding forecasts [...]
UK housing market: Remortgaging spurred on by Bank of England interest rate hike threat August 26, 2015 Remortgaging has surged as the prospect of an interest rate rise leads homeowners to lock in better deals. The number of people switching to lower rates was 29 per cent higher in July than in the some month last year, figures released yesterday by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) showed. “Savvy homeowners are snapping up [...]
Homeowner remortgages surge as fears of base rate hike grow August 25, 2015 MORTGAGE borrowers are locking in record-low interest rates as the prospect of a rate rise and higher loan costs loom. The number of remortgage loans reached 46,423 last month, a massive 89 per cent jump on the same month last year and the most since November 2008, according to estimates from property services group LMS. [...]
Unlimited upsides? Check. Too big to fail? Check. History tells us careful investors could be about to make millions in China August 21, 2015 The Chinese government could be forgiven if it now feels rather pleased with itself. After interventions including banning negative reporting on markets, threatening to prosecute short-sellers, and ordering companies to engage in share buybacks, it has succeeded in arresting a stock market crash – albeit with a few bumps along the way. Not many governments [...]
UK house prices: No respite in sight for the housing market August 21, 2015 The housing market shows no sign of easing up this summer with prices climbing and mortgage lending seeing its strongest month for seven years. City level house prices are seeing their fastest growth for over a decade, property market analysts Hometrack said today. It said asking prices had increased 4.3 per cent in the [...]
Strong first half for Rabobank as Dutch economy rebounds August 20, 2015 DUTCH lender Rabobank booked 41 per cent higher net profit in the first half of 2015, lifted by a rebounding Dutch economy and a steep fall in provisions for bad loans, it said yesterday. Net profit in the six-month period was €1.52bn, helped by strong retail banking profit in the Netherlands, where an economic recovery [...]
Co-operative Bank losses nearly treble as turnaround plan gets underway August 20, 2015 The figures Co-op Bank said it made a loss of £204.2m in the first half of 2015, up from a £77m loss in the same period last year, however this was slightly better than expected. The bank’s operating income slumped to £236.5m during this period, from £307.3m in the first half of 2014. This included losses [...]