Barclays boss John McFarlane looks to cut costs despite profit rise in bid to streamline bank July 30, 2015 Barclays, Britain’s largest bank after HSBC, yesterday delivered £3.1bn of pre-tax profits for the first half of this year, boosted by a 36 per cent rise in the performance of its investment banking arm, which chipped in almost half the total. The investment bank made £1.44bn pre-tax profit. John McFarlane, who joined the bank as [...]
Barclays profits beat expectations as executive chairman John McFarlane sets out new strategy July 29, 2015 Barclays' share price climbed more than 2.3 per cent this morning having beaten expectations for second quarter profits, with net income rising to £1.85bn – ahead of the £1.8bn expected – as chairman John McFarlane set out his three point plan to strengthen the bank. The figures Total income rose to £6.55bn in the three months [...]
Equities dream: Will we wake in a cold sweat? – CNBC Comment May 18, 2015 THE CURRENT state of equity markets is taking me back to a song from my youth: “dreamer, you’re nothing but a dreamer. Well can you put your hands in your head? Oh no.” Apologies to Supertramp, but there have been times recently when these markets, and the desperation to put on the blinkers and ignore [...]
Fall in PPI complaints leads to 42pc fewer disputes with banks September 2, 2014 A DECLINE in the number of disputes about the mis-selling of loan insurance in the first half of 2014 has led to a fall of nearly 42 per cent in total complaints against British banks, figures released yesterday by the banks’ ombudsman reveal. The Financial Ombudsman Service said it received 191,000 new complaints during the period, compared [...]
Payment protection complaints drop but cases more complex February 23, 2015 THE FINANCIAL ombudsman – set up in 2001 to settle disputes between consumers and businesses – took on 161,649 new cases in the second half of 2014, figures published today show. Cases refering to payment protection insurance (PPI) comprised the majority of the cases with a total of 104,877 new complaints. Cases against the UK’s [...]
Barclays’ progress frustrated by legal costs and PPI July 30, 2014 Mounting PPI payouts and weak investment bank performance knocked Barclays’ profits in the first half of 2014, the bank said yesterday. Pre-tax profits fell seven per cent to £3.3bn, down from £3.6bn in the same period of 2013. Operating income fell nine per cent to £12.2bn, while operating expenses rose nine per cent to £8.9bn. [...]
PPI scandal: Customer compensation cost big lenders £31bn in three years September 7, 2014 Britain’s five biggest banks have spent £31bn compensating customers for mis-selling and other bad behaviour over the past three years, KPMG analysts said today. Between them the giant lenders have given customers more than £20bn in payment protection insurance mis-selling alone, and have racked up the remainder on paying interest rate swap redress, as well [...]
HSBC expected to set aside extra £75m for PPI August 4, 2014 HSBC is readying itself for a second wave of charges as the industry's bill for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) swept past £23bn. The bank is expected set aside an extra £75m, with the exact amount given in its half-yearly results, released at 9:15 this morning. The extra funds put the total payments for [...]
HSBC profits fall as bank adds $194m to PPI costs August 4, 2014 HSBC has reported a fall in pre-tax profits of 12 per cent to $12.3bn for the first half of 2014, slightly below expectations and barely moving the bank's share price. Revenue also took a hit, falling by four per cent to $31.4bn. Pre-tax profit in Asia was particularly hard hit, falling by close to 15 [...]
PPI claims to be reassessed by banks: 2.5 million cases may not have been handled fairly August 29, 2014 PPI has reared its ugly head again as the financial conduct authority ordered more than 2.5 million claims to be re-examined to ensure compensation was "fairly made". The financial regulator said banks, credit card providers and personal loan companies have agreed to reassess complaints about mis-sold payment protection insurance made in 2012 and 2013. An [...]