City sends an SOS to fix London markets ‘before it’s too late’ June 26, 2025 Fears over the health of the City’s stock market have been laid bare after trading platform IG became the latest firm to sound the alarm over the “crisis unfolding” on the London bourse. The FTSE 250 firm has launched a “Save our Stock market” initiative – aptly dubbed the SOS campaign – which serves as [...]
Paragon Bank shares jump after analysts hike target June 16, 2025 Shares in Paragon Banking Group jumped on Monday after analysts reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating. The FTSE 250 bank’s stock climbed over two per cent in afternoon trading, reaching 908.50p. This came after Peel Hunt analysts upped their target price on the lender to 1,030p from 950p. “The group’s capital and funding position remain strong, with [...]
Bargain Britain: UK firms under siege by foreign takeovers June 12, 2025 The London Stock Exchange has suffered a bruising week as private equity firms and foreign giants continue to snap up British bargains. Markets were hit with a double blow on Wednesday after Canadian consultancy giant acquired engineering firm Ricardo and KKR returned with a final bid for GP Landlord Assura. Assura has recommended a cash [...]
Peel Hunt boss renews calls for tax cuts to rescue ailing public markets June 11, 2025 The boss of City broker Peel Hunt has called for a raft of fresh tax cuts for London’s stock market to help stem the flood of delistings and end the dearth of flotations. CEO Steven Fine called for stamp duty on share trades to be abolished in a bid to help “shift this doomloop of [...]
Paragon Bank: Stamp duty boost offsets motor finance provision June 4, 2025 Specialist lender Paragon Banking Group bolstered its profit in the first half of the financial year as increased lending managed to offshore a motor finance provision. The FTSE 250 bank’s pre-tax profit surged 26.7 per cent to £149.4m, up from £146.4 in the first half of 2024. This was driven by 4.9 per cent expansion [...]
Nationwide posts bumper year after stamp duty rush May 29, 2025 Nationwide Building Society bolstered its takings in the 12 months to March 31 2025, after a rush to beat the stamp duty deadline led to a surge in first-time buyers. The firm said it served more first-time buyers than any other lender in the UK, with 120,000 purchasing their first home. This was a significant leap from [...]
Natwest: Shares in FTSE 100 giant smash decade high May 15, 2025 Shares in banking giant Natwest notched a ten-year high on Thursday as the government continued to whittle down its stake in the lender. The FTSE 100 giant’s stock was up nearly one per cent during mid-day trading and touched highs of 498.8p. Natwest shares are up nearly 24 per cent since the beginning of 2025 [...]
Exclusive: Government adds employee tax break to Pisces May 15, 2025 The government has introduced legislation for the new ‘Pisces’ market designed to allow trading for private companies, extending share tax breaks for employees to the platform, Morning Wire can reveal. Pisces—the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System—was devised by the previous government as part of an effort to revive UK capital markets. The platform [...]
What the Bank of England’s interest rate cut means for your mortgage May 8, 2025 The Bank of England has reduced rates by 0.25 percentage points to 4.25 per cent in a hotly anticipated cut that will leave homeowners with big decisions for their mortgage deals. The reduced cost for banks to borrow money will have broad implications for the mortgage market, as banks lower interest rates on loans. Major [...]
Natwest to ‘outperform’ sector with bumper year, analysts predict May 6, 2025 RBC analysts slapped a “Sector Outperform” rating on Natwest after the lender beat expectations in its first-quarter report. The analysts upgraded full-year profit before tax estimates by three per cent to £7.1bn, compared to £6.2bn in 2024, and upped the stock’s target price to 475p from 465p. They said the upgrades were driven by net [...]