Virgin Money’s profits jump on mortgage loans March 4, 2014 BOOMING mortgage lending drove up profits in 2013 at challenger bank Virgin Money, the lender said yesterday. The bank, which was built out of the remains of Northern Rock, made a pre-tax profit of £179.4m in 2013, up 23.5 per cent on the year. Mortgage balances jumped 17 per cent on the year to £19.6bn, [...]
Post “Carney in Edinburgh” challenge Canada vs Scotland January 29, 2014 YESTERDAY Mark Carney donned his well-fitting black suit, fired up the economobile and raced up to Scotland for a breakfast meeting with Alex Salmond and a rather lengthy speech at The George Hotel in Edinburgh, to give his tuppence worth on a currency plan for an independent Scotland. Throughout the talk, the Bank of England [...]
Chancellor: Workable monetary union unlikely if Scotland splits February 4, 2014 A WORKABLE monetary policy between an independent Scotland and England would be unlikely, the chancellor has told a committee. George Osborne told a Lords committee yesterday: “You have heard now from the governor of the Bank of England, from myself and from a number of other people about the fact that the assertions the SNP make [...]
FTSE surges upward to join US stock markets July 18, 2013 Following record breaking gains from US stock markets (the S&P also broke new highs shortly after posting), the FTSE is up over one per cent, driven by rallies in the Royal Bank of Scotland, Aberdeen Asset Management, Barclays and the London Stock Exchange. Lloyds Banking Group, Kingfisher and ASOS have also hit new highs. This [...]
Global Britain: Over half of UK company shares owned by foreign investors September 25, 2013 More than half of shares in listed UK firms owned by foreign investors for the first time UK CAPITAL markets are more global than ever, it was revealed yesterday, as official statistics showed that for the first time more than half of shares in British companies are now owned outside the UK. In just a [...]
London Report: UK’s corporate calendar packed in results season July 28, 2013 THE CORPORATE calendar is packed this week, as businesses including ITV, BP, Lloyds, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland update the market amid a swathe of other results. The week begins with figures from Fidessa Group, Hammerson, InterContinental Hotels Group, Intertek Group, JKX Oil & Gas, Keller Group, Senior, Vernalis, Reckitt Benckiser Group, National Grid, [...]
Card firms on hook for £1.3bn mis-selling bill August 22, 2013 THIRTEEN of Britain’s biggest lenders yesterday unveiled plans to repay consumers £1.3bn for mis-selling credit card protection products. Seven million customers bought the products which came from CCP and were sold through high street lenders and retailers. They either provided loss protection already covered by the bank, or were misleadingly advertised. If customers bought card [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 27 September 2013 September 26, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Rabobank to settle over Libor Rabobank, the Dutch lender, is on track to settle as early as next month allegations that it helped to manipulate key benchmark interbank rates. The expected settlement with US, UK and Dutch authorities is forecast to be less than the £390m paid by the Royal Bank of Scotland [...]
RBS’s mad rise and catastrophic fall can’t all be blamed on Fred Goodwin September 23, 2013 IN THE boom years at the start of the twenty-first century, the Royal Bank of Scotland management came up with a marketing slogan. They would – it promised customers and rivals – “Make It Happen”. In giant type, the words were emblazoned on airport billboards and printed on tons of promotional material. A four minute [...]
David Lloyd sold to private equity fund September 5, 2013 HEALTH and fitness club David Lloyd Leisure (DLL) yesterday outlined an ambitious £50m expansion plan after being sold to UK private equity firm TDR Capital for just under £750m. The business, founded by former tennis ace David Lloyd over 30 years ago, said it has over 20 new centres in the pipeline across the country [...]