UK banks launch new low-deposit mortgage scheme April 19, 2021 High street banks will today begin offering mortgages with a deposit of just five per cent under a new government-backed scheme. The scheme, first announced in the Budget, is designed to make home ownership more affordable for first-time buyers. Borrowers will be able to secure a mortgage with just a five per cent deposit on [...]
HSBC profit sinks as bank says performance is ‘not acceptable’ October 28, 2019 HSBC has called parts of its performance “not acceptable” as it revealed an 18 per cent drop in third quarter profit today, fuelled by weak results in its European and US divisions. The figures Profit before tax dropped 18 per cent to $4.8bn (£3.8bn) in the three months to the end of September to fall [...]
Why the Bank of England should hold interest rates December 18, 2019 The Bank of England should vote to hold interest rates at their current level until there is more clarity over the economy’s direction in the New Year, some of the City’s top economists have argued. Ahead of the Bank’s key meeting tomorrow, City A.M.’s shadow monetary policy committee has taken a wait-and-see approach by overwhelmingly [...]
UK financial sector optimism falls as bosses brace for economic slowdown September 16, 2019 The majority of top executives at UK financial institutions are less optimistic about the country’s economic outlook than they were a year ago. Almost 60 per cent of organisations said they expected UK economic growth to slow in the next 12 months, roughly twice as many as held that view last year, according to a [...]
Lloyds Bank faces potential shareholder pay revolt after world’s largest proxy adviser ‘surprises’ lender May 19, 2018 Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of Lloyds Bank, is facing a potential shareholder revolt next Thursday over his multi-million pound pay packet for 2017. Institution Shareholder Services (ISS), the world’s biggest investor advisory group, has recommended a vote against Lloyds’ remuneration report at the lender’s annual general meeting on 24 May. Lloyds’ bonus framework was [...]
N Brown shares drop after it reveals £20m to £30m PPI provision September 12, 2019 Shares in British retailer N Brown have fallen 5.5 per cent this morning after it said it would have to set aside £20m to £30m more to cover claims about mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI). Read more: Barclays and Lloyds Bank reveal PPI balance sheet hit The plus-size clothes retailer, which has cricketer Freddie Flintoff [...]
British Airways considers selling its Heathrow HQ in homeworking shift March 19, 2021 British Airways said it was considering selling its headquarters as a switch to homeworking during the pandemic means it may no longer need so much office space. The potential sale of the building, first reported by the Financial Times, could boost the airline’s finances which have been hammered throughout the last year. The BA complex, [...]
Government set to write off estimated £31bn of pandemic loans January 29, 2021 An estimate of £31bn of government loans handed out during the pandemic will have to be written off, according to the UK’s spending watchdog. In its latest Covid-19 Cost Tracker, the National Audit Office (NAO) forecast that the total cost of the pandemic for Britain will balloon to £271bn, of which £116bn has been spent [...]
Lloyds Bank launches fresh £2bn funding for sustainable investment under Clean Growth Finance Scheme May 14, 2018 Lloyds Bank today announced £2bn of fresh funding to help UK businesses invest more sustainably. The funding will be part of the Clean Growth Finance Scheme. Lloyds said: “The Clean Growth Finance scheme aims to deliver the most inclusive UK green funding in the market by providing the incentive of discounted lending to help businesses [...]
All eyes on dividends: What to expect from Barclays and Natwest this week February 16, 2021 Barclays and Natwest will be the first of the major high street banks to report full year results this week. It has been a difficult 12 months with Brexit weighing on sentiment in addition to the fallout from the pandemic. All eyes will be on dividend payments after the Prudential Regulation Authority effectively banned payouts [...]