'Buy' Barclays after Q3 profit beat, recommends Shore Capital
30th Oct 2014 09:31
Shore Capital has retained its 'buy' rating on shares of Barclays after the UK bank reported third-quarter profits well ahead of the broker's forecasts. Shore analyst Gary Greenwood said that the stock's "depressed valuation" - trading at just 0.77 times tangible net asset value of 287p - "more than
Read moreLondon open: Miners drag UK stocks lower, but Barclays gains
30th Oct 2014 08:34
London's stock exchange opened more or less flat on Thursday as heavy falls from mining stocks and BT offset gains from Barclays and St James's Place. The FTSE 100 was trading 0.1% lower at 6,449 in early deals. The subdued start follows a weak performance on Wall Street overnight as investors reac
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks set for modest gain after Fed offers no surprises
30th Oct 2014 07:41
London-listed stocks are set for a modest gain on Thursday morning, after the Federal Reserve surprised no one with its decision to terminate its third round of quantitative easing. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 12 points above Wednesday's close of 6,453.87. The Fed also opted
Read moreBarclays Q3 profits beat expectations as costs slashed - UPDATE
30th Oct 2014 07:10
Barclays unveiled a third-quarter adjusted pre-tax profit well ahead of forecast as it held costs to a five-year quarterly low and made a £670m provision against fines for rigging forex and PPI mis-selling. The bank, which it emerged on Thursday morning has been sued for $10bn in damages by a Saudi
Read moreBarclays sued for $10bn by Saudi businessman
30th Oct 2014 07:04
Barclays acted "corruptly" to further its own interest in Saudi Arabia, according to a businessmen who is suing the bank for $10bn in damages. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, who owns property firms MBI International and Jadawel International, claims that the UK bank "betrayed its duty" by ceasing
Read moreThursday preview: Barclays reports third quarter results
29th Oct 2014 15:52
Barclays will take centre stage on Thursday as it reports its third quarter interims. The UK bank may report an adjusted £1.08mbn pre-tax profit, down from the previous year's £1.65bn, reflecting lower investment banking revenues, according to forecasts by Numis. The group's results come after it p
Read moreSector movers: Standard Chartered, Lloyds drag UK banks lower
28th Oct 2014 13:20
The second profit warning in a year from Standard Chartered and some underwhelming results from Lloyds ensured that the banking sector was the worst-performing segment in London on Tuesday. Shares of Asia-focused StanChart were down 9% in afternoon trade after the bank warned that second-half underl
Read moreLondon open: UK stocks rise, but Lloyds and StanChart fall
28th Oct 2014 08:54
Despite some heavy falls from banking heavyweights Lloyds and Standard Chartered, UK stocks advanced on Tuesday morning as the FTSE 100 rebounded from a one-week low. London's benchmark index was up 0.6% at 6,404 in early deals, helped by decent gains from oil major BP. The Footsie closed at 6,363.
Read moreLondon close: Weaker German business confidence, stress tests weigh on stocks
27th Oct 2014 16:14
UK-listed stocks closed lower on Monday, with banks and mining stocks providing a drag in the aftermath of the results of the latest EU bank stress tests and alongside a weak reading on German business confidence. The FTSE closed down 24.92 points at 6,363.81 after falling early on. Stocks were dra
Read moreSector movers: Lloyds leads banks lower as stress-test success underwhelms
27th Oct 2014 14:10
Investors of the UK's biggest high street banks were left underwhelmed on Monday by the news that Britain's lenders had all passed the latest stress tests in Europe. Lloyds, HSBC, RBS and Barclays were all trading firmly in the red in afternoon trade. Results from the European Banking Authority's (
Read moreUK top four banks respond to stress test success
27th Oct 2014 08:16
Britain's four main banks have released statements following their stress test success. The test is meant to assess each bank's capital adequacy against a 5.5% common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital benchmark. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) claimed that its improvement "reflected actions taken to re
Read moreRoyal Bank of Scotland will continue Ulster support, responds to stress test success
26th Oct 2014 15:55
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is rumoured to firmly back Irish counterpart Ulster Bank after a recent upswing in value, despite reports that RBS was looking to "seek a sale or outside investment", according to the Sunday Telegraph. The bank's chief executive Ross McEwan has hinted that he would l
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: SFO, EU, BP
23rd Oct 2014 18:49
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been forced to ask the government for an additional £26.5m because of ongoing fraud investigations into Barclays, Rolls-Royce and Libor rigging, the Guardian reported on Friday. SFO chief David Green said that the agency was handling the "most demanding caseload th
Read moreSociete Generale to move London offices to Canary Wharf
23rd Oct 2014 17:02
French bank Societe Generale is set to join some of its competitors in Canary Wharf, one of London's main financial districts. On Thursday, the lender, which has currently six offices in London, announced it had signed a contract to lease eight of the 26 floors of a new building at One Bank Street,
Read moreBanks are starting to look like utilities, Brewin Dolphin says
20th Oct 2014 15:59
Britain's banks are becoming more like utilities as they focus on traditional retail banking rather than "casino" investment banking after the financial crisis, according to broker Brewin Dolphin. The banks are increasingly adopting characteristics common among defensive stocks like utilities, such
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