Week ahead: Banks to report amid high inflation and interest rate fears July 25, 2022 Customer behaviour and cost control are set to be top of the in-tray for the major banks as they update investors over the next week. Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest are all set to update the markets in a bumper week for the sector. Although priorities will vary slightly, there will be significant focus on whether [...]
Retailers in trouble as 51 per cent of punters cut back on clothes shopping July 31, 2023 Retail and hospitality industries continue to be bruised by the UK’s cost of living crisis as 59 per cent of people have cut their spending on eating out and a further 51 per cent have cut spending on clothing. As Brits continue to watch their pennies amid high inflation, figures from Oxera show that in [...]
Housebuilding downturn deepens as rising interest rates weigh on demand September 6, 2023 The sector recorded a score of 40.8, comfortably below the 50 mark which separates growth from contraction.
Bank of England interest rate hikes trigger record £2.1 trillion UK wealth collapse, report claims July 17, 2023 The Bank of England has engineered the largest contraction in UK household wealth on record by jacking up interest rates in response to scorching inflation, a new report out today has claimed. Asset values have collapsed by £2.1 trillion since early 2021, mainly driven by a sharp fall in bond prices in response to UK [...]
Berkeley shares at 12-month high as investors regain confidence in UK’s property market December 4, 2023 Shares in high-end housebuilder Berkeley stand at a 12-month high, as investors are beginning to regain hope in the UK property market after a torrid few months. The FTSE 100 firm is set to post its half year results on Friday, with its cheery outlook boosted by plans by boss Rob Perrins to storm ahead [...]
King’s coronation steers UK economy back into red as GDP shrinks 0.1 per cent in May July 13, 2023 Lost work owing to the additional bank holiday to celebrate the King’s coronation has sent UK economic growth into reverse, official figures out today reveal. UK gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 0.1 per cent in May, a much smaller drop than the City expected and down from a 0.2 per cent expansion in April, according [...]
Wealthy splurge £3.1bn on luxury London homes as demand recovers after pandemic May 11, 2023 London’s mega wealthy splurged £3.1bn on 161 luxury homes across the capital’s most affluent boroughs in the year to 23 March – the strongest year for London’s luxury property market since the Brexit vote. The highest number of £10 million-plus deals in London took place in Kensington, Belgravia and Mayfair, where the rich bought 73 [...]
Natwest boss: We’re managing loan book ‘very very closely’ as rates spike June 15, 2023 Natwest boss Dame Alison Rose said the bank was seeing “no material signs of distress” in its loan book despite the impact of rising interest rates. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs financial conference, Rose said: “We have seen no increase in defaults or impairments and the same on the business side… What we’ve actually seen [...]
Google bans personal loan apps from accessing sensitive data April 6, 2023 Google is banning apps that provide personal loans from accessing sensitive user data in a bid to clamp down on predatory activity among some lenders. In a policy update late Wednesday, the company said that the apps available on Google Play were “prohibited” from accessing sensitive data, such as photos or contact books. The new [...]
Lloyds Bank: Shares fall after bumping up ‘bad loan’ recession provisions February 22, 2023 Lloyds Bank reported that higher interest rates offset the money set aside to cope with loan defaults during the final quarter of 2022, but disappointed the market with yet more conservative guidance on net interest margin for 2023. Lloyds recorded a pretax profit of £1.8bn during the quarter, in line with company-compiled consensus and over [...]