UK high street lenders whipsaw on muddled day of trading in the City April 27, 2022 The UK’s biggest high street lenders whipsawed in the City today after giving up morning gains that initially boosted London’s top indexes. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index closed 0.53 per cent higher at 7,425.61 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, dipped [...]
Lloyds warns of looming defaults on cost of living shock April 27, 2022 The cost of living shock that is rippling throughout household finances is increasing the chances of borrowers defaulting on their debts, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender warned today. Worsening economic conditions triggered by inflation scaling to 30-year highs is likely to lead to greater financial distress among Brits, Lloyds Bank said today. The bleak assessment touches [...]
HSBC profits slide on looming inflation default wave April 26, 2022 A deterioration in borrowers’ credit worthiness caused by a historic cost of living squeeze prompted Britain’s biggest lender HSBC to set aside millions of pounds to deal with a rise in defaults. The bank, which sources a large proportion of its profits from China and Asia, banked $600m (£470m) in reserves to cope with a [...]
The City View: Musk on cusp of Twitter buy, and global markets down April 25, 2022 Today Andy Silvester talks to Jack Barnett, City A.M.’s Economics and Markets reporter. They go through the global market dip and why China’s zero-Covid lockdowns are concerning investors; bank earnings for Q1; and new ONS data showing that 9 in 10 households have recorded an uptick in their cost of living. And in the news, [...]
Britain’s biggest banks in higher interest rate profit boost as earnings season kicks off April 24, 2022 Profits at Britain’s biggest high street lenders have been boosted by the Bank of England hiking interest rates to tame historic high inflation. That’s according to top City analysts who are forecasting the UK’s largest banks to have reaped the rewards of being able to charge borrowers more for loans. A higher interest rate environment [...]
Week ahead: City eyes cladding bill impact on house builders’ bottom lines April 24, 2022 Signs of the negative impact of the government turning to home builders to fix the cladding crisis is likely to draw City traders’ gaze in a week of jam packed corporate and economic announcements. London’s capital FTSE 100 index dipped 0.78 per cent to 7,521.68 over the last week, while the mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile? April 21, 2022 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every morning. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Future Specialist media platform Future has a new UK group commercial director, who brings more than three decades experience to the position. Clare Dove, who has held senior commercial roles at Condé Nast and Trinity Mirror, will help the company identify new [...]
Steepening yields boost London-listed banks April 20, 2022 Financials led the way in the City today as a steepening in global yields boosted sentiment to banks and fund managers. London’s premier FTSE 100 index climbed 0.37 per cent to 7,629.22 points, while the mid-cap domestically-focused FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, closed 0.58 per cent [...]
Companies relieved at unions waning power face a revived challenge in ERGs (no, not the Brexit kind) April 19, 2022 Companies are in the firing line for the way they treat their workers. The latest in the long list of companies who are experiencing the sharp end of worker anger is gaming giant Activision Blizzard whose workers are staging a virtual walkout in protest of the lifting of the vaccine mandate, which workers claim creates [...]
Regulators raise concerns as investors swap shares for crypto April 11, 2022 Natwest has revealed more of its customers invest in crypto than shares, as the popularity of digital assets continues to soar.