Bank of Scotland has postponed announcing its annual results today because of its ongoing merger talks with mortgage bank Halifax. In a statement, the bank said that the delay was in the shareholders' best interests.
The bank did not give a new date for the results, which had been due out this morning.
Halifax and Bank of Scotland announced last week that they were planning a nil-premium merger, which would create Britain's fifth biggest bank with a market value of about £28 million. The two financial institutions hope to seal a deal quickly. Industry sources say this is to avoid a potential rival bid.
Bank of Scotland's board has been due to meet yesterday to finalise the results, but opted instead to postpone them. Bank executives would have been pressed by investors and analysts for a merger talks update if the announcement had gone ahead.
Industry sources now say that Bank of Scotland's results would likely to be released along with the next statement on the merger, but they were unable to say exactly when this would be.
Halifax held its AGM yesterday, but remained mum on the merger negotiations, though it told its shareholders that trading had been robust during the first three months of this year. Halifax said that first quarter trade had been buoyant, with the bank meeting or exceeding sales and cost targets.
The latest merger plans are part of efforts by major UK banks to drive growth in an increasingly cut-throat financial services market by pairing off or buying up smaller competitors.
Lloyds TSB has proposed a takeover of the UK's number two mortgage bank Abbey National, but the deal is under investigation by competition regulators.
