Motor finance: Lloyds and Close Brothers shareholders await landmark hearing March 19, 2025 The eyes of shareholders at Britain’s biggest lenders will be on April’s landmark motor finance hearing, as the scandal heads to the Supreme Court. The hearing, scheduled for April 1-3, will allow car loan providers to challenge the October 2024 Court of Appeal ruling that it was unlawful for banks to pay a commission to [...]
Analysts put Close Brothers shares ‘under review’ as stock plummets March 18, 2025 Peel Hunt analysts placed Close Brothers shares ‘under review’ after the banking group suffered a £104m loss in the first half of its 2025 financial year. The lender said losses were driven by the £165m reserved for potential motor finance payouts, along with costs of complaint handling and legal expenses. Close Brothers’ stock sank as [...]
Close Brothers shares plunge as motor finance costs mount March 18, 2025 Banking group Close Brothers plunged to a £104m loss in the first half of 2025 after the firm set aside provisions for the motor finance scandal. The lender recorded a pre-tax loss in the first half of its 2025 financial year, compared to a profit of £88.1m in the same period of 2024 due to [...]
Vanquis shares plunge as complaints costs soar March 14, 2025 Specialist lender Vanquis Banking Group said its “turnaround” was “on track” in its annual results despite suffering a loss in 2024. The Bradford-based lender reported a £34.8m loss, a drastic drop from its pre-tax profit of £17.3m in 2023. The cost of dealing with complaints related to the company’s historic lending practices soared and took [...]
Regulator considers redress scheme in motor finance review March 11, 2025 In a statement this morning, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has outlined its next steps in its motor finance review – including an industry-wide redress scheme if the Supreme Court upholds last year’s Court of Appeal ruling. The UK’s top court is expected to hear the appeal in early April as part of the growing [...]
Lloyds shares worth 70p say analysts March 4, 2025 Peel Hunt analysts have raised their price target on Lloyds shares by 17 per cent to 70p and slapped a ‘Hold’ rating on the FTSE 100 lender. The analysts cited strengthening income trends and reduced sensitivity to interest rates as the top factors driving the bank’s “top-line performance.” The banking giant‘s full-year profits fell 20 per [...]
Motor finance complaints hit record levels March 4, 2025 The UK financial ombudsman has received a record number of complaints about motor finance loans in the most recent quarter, according to new data. On Tuesday, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) said that complaints about car loan cases had surpassed credit cards as the subject with the most unresolved complaints in the financial sector. Some [...]
Pay for Lloyds Bank’s top bosses jumps to £5.6m February 28, 2025 Lloyds Bank’s top executives have received a bumper windfall despite the lender’s rocky results and mass closure of high-street branches. In its annual report published on Thursday, the bank said its top two bosses would receive nearly £2m in bonuses in 2024 in addition to their regular payouts. Chief executive Charlie Nunn will receive a [...]
Motor finance: Bank of Ireland sets aside £143m provision February 24, 2025 Bank of Ireland joined the UK’s biggest lenders in setting aside a lump sump for potential motor finance payouts as it posted its annual results. The bank recorded a pre-tax profit of €1.86bn (£1.5bn) for 2024, which was four per cent down on the €1.94bn (£1.6bn) reported in 2023. The bank set aside €172m (£143m) [...]
FTSE 100 lenders pocket record total profit February 21, 2025 Standard Chartered was the last of the FTSE 100’s biggest banks to release its annual results, as analysts praised the strong performance across all of the Big Five. Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds and Standard Chartered booked an all-time high of £50.3bn in profit in 2024 and returned £35bn to investors. Russ Mould, investment director at [...]