London pre-open: Lower start expected
5th Aug 2009 07:48
Footsie is expected to add to yesterday's losses as the stream of results from banks and insurers continues. Lloyds Banking posted an underlying loss of £4bn in the half year to June as impairment charges jumped by nearly £11bn to £13.4bn reflecting huge write-downs of HBOS's commercial property lo
Read moreUpdate: Lloyds shares soar despite £4bn loss
5th Aug 2009 07:03
Shares in Lloyds Banking soared today despite the part-nationalised bank posting an underlying loss of £4bn after a huge jump in bad debts. Impairment charges jumped by nearly £11bn to £13.4bn reflecting huge write-downs of HBOS's commercial property loans, but investors took heart from the bank's
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Pensions, Lloyds Banking
5th Aug 2009 06:33
The shortfall in FTSE 100 blue chip final-salary pension schemes more than doubled in the past year to a record £96 billion, according to a new survey. The slide in equity markets and the fallout from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the former Wall Street banking group, were blamed. The figures,
Read moreWednesday preview: All about Lloyds Banking
4th Aug 2009 12:34
Part-nationalised bank Lloyds Banking will dominate the headlines tomorrow morning. Rivals Barclays and HSBC have done well this week after their figures. Lloyds will receive less of a lift from the revival in capital markets, focused as it is on the retail market, even so the bank is tipped to an
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: UK banks, National Express, William Hill
2nd Aug 2009 10:43
Treasury minister Lord Myners' radical plans for changes to financial regulation are "dangerous" and could result in a further loss of confidence in the market, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the Sunday Telegraph reports. Lord Myners' idea for a two-tier shareholder registe
Read moreShareholders of UK banks looking for a result
31st Jul 2009 18:06
The banking sector has been one of the top five performers since the market rally started on 9 March, and next week's results from the major players are expected to add weight to the view that the worst may be behind them. Barclays and HSBC get the ball rolling on Monday. Both companies have avoide
Read moreUKFI chief Kingman steps down
28th Jul 2009 12:12
John Kingman, the chief executive of UKFI, the body controlling the government's stake in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, has surprised the City and stunned the government by handing in his resignation. Kingman, a former Treasury official who played a key part in last year's part-nationalisatio
Read moreLondon open: Footsie on course for record
28th Jul 2009 08:33
All eyes today will be on Footsie and whether it can set a new record of twelve consecutive daily gains. Currently, it is comfortably on course despite some mixed results on another big day for company announcements. Oil giant BP announced second quarter replacement cost profits towards the top e
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Darling threatens banks over lending
28th Jul 2009 06:16
Alistair Darling has effectively threatened Britain's biggest banks with a competition inquiry should they fail to increase cheap lending to mortgage borrowers and small businesses. The Chancellor met the chief executives of seven of the country's biggest banks in the Treasury yesterday along with
Read moreLloyds names Bischoff as new chairman
27th Jul 2009 17:22
Sir Win Bischoff has been confirmed as Lloyds Banking Group's new chairman, replacing the outgoing Sir Victor Blank. City veteran Bischoff, chairman of Schroders then of Citigroup, will take up his role at Lloyds, 43%-owned by the government, on 15 September. He left Citigroup, once one of the wor
Read moreLondon close: Footsie equals winning streak
27th Jul 2009 16:59
Though it was a close run thing the Footsie ended the day in the blue, equalling its record run of 11 successive days of rises. The blue-chip index was supported by a strong performance from miners and the part-nationalised banks. Lonmin was wanted after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to "neutr
Read moreLondon afternoon: Winning streak in danger
27th Jul 2009 14:34
Footsie has dipped back into the red, with sentiment taking a knock from Wall Street's soft opening. Were the Footsie to finish higher today it would equal a record streak of 11 successive days of gains. Pearson remains the best performer on a much better than expected trading update. The publishin
Read moreBroker tips: Pearson, Lloyds, Pace
27th Jul 2009 12:49
Results from FT publisher Pearson got the market off to a good start to the week with the figures ahead of market expectations "on every P&L line", according to broker Panmure Gordon. The broker reckons that the trading update should calm investors' nerves about the group's prospects. "Encouragingl
Read moreLondon midday: Pearson beats expectations
27th Jul 2009 12:07
Strong mining stocks are supporting the Footsie's quest to achieve a record breaking 12th successive day of gains today. Lonmin leads the mining sector higher after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to "neutral" from "sell". Kazakhmys and Antofagasta are the next best performers. Pearson remains th
Read moreBroker snap: Nomura rates Lloyds a buy
27th Jul 2009 10:51
Japanese brokerage Nomura has upgraded part-nationalised bank Lloyds Banking Group ahead of the UK banks' interim results season. "As substantially all the highest-risk assets are believed to be included in the APS [asset protection scheme], we believe Lloyds' TBVPS [tangible book value per share]
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