Provident Financial’s growth-as-expected prompts City firm to issue interim dividend July 27, 2022 Provident Financial announced solid growth in line with market expectations for the first half of the year and is set to recommend an interim dividend of 5p per share. The specialist banking group’s continuing profit before tax was at £54.3m compared to £63.5m in the first half of 2021 which the company said showed growth [...]
British Business Bank pumps £30m into early-stage venture fund amid investment slowdown July 27, 2022 The state-backed British Business Bank revealed it had pumped £30m into a new early-stage venture fund today as it looks to fill a funding gap for small firms amid a major investment slowdown this year.
Virgin Money announces plans to take UK’s fast-growing ‘buy now, pay later market’ by storm July 26, 2022 Virgin Money said this afternoon the bank plans to enter the buy now, pay later (BNPL) market later this year. With an offering called Virgin Money Slyce, Virgin Money is set to launch a new BNPL credit card product. Any spend over £30 can be spread across three, six, nine or 12-month repayment plans. Paying [...]
UBS profits drop below expectations July 26, 2022 A sharp fall in profits at UBS’s investment banking division caused by charges to deal with the fall out of the collapse of Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital and tumbling global stock markets has raided the Swiss lender’s bottom line. UBS profits sank around $100m (£83m) over the last year to $2.1bn (£1.7bn), it announced today, [...]
Monzo ‘repeatedly failed customers’ by not sharing data, competition watchdog says July 26, 2022 The competition watchdog has accused Monzo of “repeatedly” failing its customers today after it found the digital lender had failed to share transaction data with people closing down their accounts.
4,500 TSB staff to be given £1,000 payment to weather cost-of-living crisis July 25, 2022 Around 4,500 staff at TSB are to be given a £1,000 payment after the high street lender became the latest firm to announce payouts to help employees weather the cost-of-living crisis. The payment will be made to all staff at the bank earning £35,000 or less and will be made in two stages – one [...]
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 [...]
SNP under fire for £5 deal with steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta July 25, 2022 Scottish ministers are facing transparency calls after it was revealed a metal tycoon under investigation for fraud paid just £5 towards the acquisition of a Highlands smelting plant – with taxpayers financing the rest of the £330 million deal. Entrepreneur Sanjeev Gupta, chief executive of Liberty Steel, acquired the aluminium plant and two adjacent hydro [...]
Liz Truss promises post-Brexit bonfire of EU rules that hinder UK growth July 22, 2022 Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss has vowed to seize the opportunities posed by Brexit by scrapping EU regulations that hinder the UK’s growth. The Conservative MP said that if she becomes prime minister, she will scrap any EU rules that hinder investment or fail to support growth in the UK economy by 2023. If Truss [...]
Claro Money tells customers to withdraw cash after suspending flagship app July 22, 2022 Financial planning company Claro Money has told customers to withdraw their money from its platform after announcing the suspension of its flagship app. In a letter to customers, Claro chief executive Rob Brockington set out plans to “refocus” the financial advice firm’s efforts, with a view to delivering in-person financial planning courses. The company chief [...]