Standard Chartered to up investment plans May 2, 2012 STANDARD Chartered will accelerate its investment plans on the back of what chief executive Peter Sands called a “strong start to 2012”. The bank gave a trading update yesterday, flagging “high single digit growth” in revenues. That was below its usual double digit growth, however, which the bank blamed mainly on “the continued strength of [...]
Housing gloom grows as Co-op pulls interest only mortgages May 2, 2012 THE CO-OPERATIVE Bank has become the first major lender to pull its interest only mortgages. It said demand for the product had dropped because of falling house prices and “uncertainty” over interest rates. New customers will only be able to take mortgages on a capital and repayment basis from Tuesday. James Hillon, Co-op Bank head [...]
Mortgage approvals rise in March May 2, 2012 Mortgage approvals for home loans in Britain rose unexpectedly in March, suggesting the housing market continued to recover despite the end of a tax exemption for first-time buyers, Bank of England data showed. The bank said mortgage approvals climbed to 49,860 in March from 49,029 in February, confounding analysts’ forecasts for a fall to 48,000. [...]
It’s time for supporters of the single currency to apologise May 1, 2012 SOME of the stories coming out of the Eurozone are heart-breaking. Greece’s retail sales are down 13 per cent over the past year, a tragic and all too painful collapse for millions of families. Economists sometimes compare the UK’s recession with the great depression: while technically true in various narrow, statistical ways, such a parallel [...]
It’s time for supporters of the single currency to apologise April 30, 2012 SOME of the stories coming out of the Eurozone are heart-breaking. Greece’s retail sales are down 13 per cent over the past year, a tragic and all too painful collapse for millions of families. Economists sometimes compare the UK’s recession with the great depression: while technically true in various narrow, statistical ways, such a parallel [...]
Mortgage costs on the rise even with Bank rate anchored down April 30, 2012 HOME-OWNERS will this morning be hit by a wave of hiked interest rates from some of the country’s leading lenders, despite the Bank of England’s loose monetary policy. Standard variable rates (SVRs) will shoot up for over a million mortgage holders, tightening the squeeze on incomes even further. Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank will increase [...]
Loan provisions hammer profit for Santander April 26, 2012 SANTANDER has blamed Spain’s new property loan rules for a 24 per cent slump in profit for the first quarter of the year. Spain’s biggest bank posted a net profit of €1.6bn, after setting aside €3.13bn to cover non-performing loans, most of which was required under the Spanish government’s plan to get a handle on [...]
SME borrowing down again as demand drops April 23, 2012 BUSINESS lending fell again in February, official data showed yesterday, while the level of mortgage loans is set to plummet after the end of the stamp duty holiday last month. Lending to firms was three per cent lower in February than in the same month of 2011, Bank of England figures revealed, as total corporate [...]
The bank branch of the future will do less but better April 22, 2012 RETAIL banks face a daunting challenge: providing profitable personal banking in a climate of cost cutting and digital disruption. A popular strategy is to focus branch staff on selling high value products and services, such as mortgages, while nudging other customers into self-service, online or mobile channels. In theory, this makes branches more profitable with [...]
Persimmon says government scheme is boosting enquiries April 19, 2012 PERSIMMON yesterday said it enjoyed a strong start to the year, with the government’s NewBuy scheme helping boost demand during the spring selling season. The housebuilder, whose brands include Charles Church and Westbury, said it continued to outperform, with visitor levels to its sites over the first 15 weeks of 2012 up 10 per cent [...]