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Lloyds' annual profit rises 12%, upgrades guidance

Lloyds Banking Group said today that its annual profit rose 12%, beating expectations, and it raised its performance forecast as increased income offset nearly £1 billion in charges for compensating customers mis-sold motor finance.

Business • 29 Jan

Image of a woman in a suit with a Union Jack flag in the background

UK bank shares up on reports they will be spared tax hike

Shares in British banks have risen following reports that they will be spared from a tax hike in tomorrow's UK Budget.

Business • 25 Nov 25

NatWest reports Q3 profit spike, upgrades guidance

NatWest has today reported a 30% rise in third-quarter profit and upgraded its performance target for 2025, as it grew loans and assets in its wealth business and avoided hefty charges for mis-selling car finance that hurt rivals.

Business • 24 Oct 25

Lloyds downgrades guidance as motor finance scandal bites

Lloyds Banking Group said today its third quarter profit fell 36% and it downgraded its performance guidance for the year, hurt by a previously announced £800m charge to compensate customers for the motor-finance mis-selling scandal.

Business • 23 Oct 25

Branch of Barclays bank in the city centre on 27th June 2025 in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Barclays Bank is a British multinational banking and financial services organisation and major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom. (photo by Mike

Barclays upgrades 2025 guidance on strong income

Barclays has today announced a surprise £500m share buyback and upgraded its performance target for the year as it struck an upbeat tone about its prospects, despite one-off charges weighing on its third-quarter profit.

Business • 22 Oct 25

Lloyds eyes €800m extra charge from car finance scandal

Britain's Lloyds Banking Group said today it would take an additional charge of £800m to compensate customers for the motor finance mis-selling scandal, bringing its total provision to £1.95 billion.

Business • 13 Oct 25

UK should tax banks on reserves held at BoE - think-tank

British finance minister Rachel Reeves should use her autumn budget to tax banks on the billions of pounds they receive in interest from the Bank of England on reserves they hold at the central bank, a think-tank recommended today.

Business • 29 Aug 25

Barclays profit up 23% as tariff turmoil lifts trading

Barclays' first-half profit rose by a better-than-expected 23%, the British bank said today, as its markets business reaped bumper returns from the frenzied trading activity sparked by US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs.

Business • 29 Jul 25

NatWest reports 18% rise in first half profit

NatWest's first-half profit rose a slightly better than expected 18% as it grew loans and deposits, it said today, allowing the British lender to announce a fresh share buyback worth £750m.

Business • 25 Jul 25

Barclays fined £42m for lapses in financial crime control

Britain's financial regulator fined Barclays £42m today for failing to evaluate money laundering risks while providing services to its clients Stunt & Co and WealthTek.

Business • 16 Jul 25

Santander bolsters presence in UK with deal for TSB

Spain's Santander has reached an agreement to acquire smaller rival Sabadell's UK unit TSB for initially £2.65 billion in an all-cash deal, subject to approval by Sabadell shareholders.

Business • 02 Jul 25

NatWest has reported operating profit before tax for January-March of £1.8 billion, up from £1.3 billion the same time a year ago

NatWest says first quarter profit rises by 36%

NatWest has today reported a forecast-beating 36% rise in first-quarter profit, thanks to healthier margins on deposits and higher loan balances, enabling the lender to upgrade a key return target despite rising economic uncertainty.

Business • 02 May 25

Lloyds Banking Group is Britain's biggest mortgage lender

Lloyds Banking Group's quarterly profit drops 7%

Lloyds Banking Group has today reported a near 7% drop in first-quarter profit, hurt by higher costs and impairment charges, and said it had set aside £100m for tariff-related impact.

Business • 01 May 25

Barclays has reported first quarter profit before tax of £2.7 billion, up from £2.3 billion a year ago

Barclays posts first quarter profit beat

Barclays said today its first-quarter profit rose a better-than-expected 19%, as frenzied trading activity in the first three months of the year boosted investment banking revenue.

Business • 30 Apr 25

NatWest received multibillion-pound bailouts funded by UK taxpayers during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009

UK government prepares to offload final NatWest stake

The chairman of NatWest said it has "fixed the issues of the past" and thanked UK taxpayers for their "intervention and support" as the bank nears a return to private ownership, 16 years after being bailed out by the UK government.

Business • 23 Apr 25

NatWest said it wants to harness Open AI's technology to ramp up the capabilities of its customer-facing chatbot Cora and its virtual assistant for staff, AskArchie

NatWest seals UK banking collaboration with OpenAI

NatWest and OpenAI have joined forces to enhance the lender's digital assistants and customer support processes using artificial intelligence, in the first collaboration of its kind with a UK-headquartered bank.

Business • 20 Mar 25

Lloyds Banking Group has reported a pretax profit of £5.97 billion for 2024, compared to £7.5 billion in 2023

Lloyds sets aside £700m more for car finance probe

Lloyds Banking Group has today warned of "significant uncertainty" around the impact of a British motor finance inquiry, after it set aside another £700m to cover a potential compensation scheme.

Business • 20 Feb 25

NatWesr gas reported a pretax operating profit of £6.2 billion for the year ended December 31

NatWest posts better than expected annual profits

British bank NatWest has today reported forecast-beating annual profit, boosted by progress in its growth strategy, improving productivity and active capital management.

Business • 14 Feb 25

Barclays has reported profit before tax for the year to December 31 of £8.11 billion.

Barclays posts rises 24% rise in annual pretax profit

Barclays has today upped its 2025 performance guidance after posting a 24% rise in annual pretax profit for 2024 that beat expectations, as its investment bank enjoyed strong income growth and slower than expected interest rate cuts boosted its domestic lending business.

Business • 13 Feb 25

Santander has reduced its workforce in Britain through a round of 1,400 job cuts in October

Santander reviews UK retail banking presence - source

Banco Santander is reviewing its presence in Britain, a person familiar with the matter said, two decades after its acquisition of Abbey National made it a major player on the country's high streets.

Business • 20 Jan 25

Metro Bank failed to have the right systems and controls to adequately monitor more than 60 million transactions, with a value of over £51 billion, for money laundering risks, the FCA said

Metro Bank fined £16m for anti-money laundering failings

Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Metro Bank £16m for failings in its anti-money laundering controls, in the latest blow to the struggling mid-sized lender.

Business • 12 Nov 24

As a result of today's transaction the UK government's ownership of NatWest would fall from around 14% of the bank to around 11%

NatWest buys back £1 billion of its shares

NatWest has bought back £1 billion worth of its own shares from Britain's government, the bank said today, as it continues its exit from state ownership following its bailout in the 2008 financial crisis.

Business • 11 Nov 24

HSBC said its third-quarter profit rose 10% to $8.5 billion, ahead of estimates of $7.6 billion

HSBC's third-quarter profit beats estimates

HSBC Holdings has turned in a better-than-expected profit for the third quarter on rising wealth and wholesale banking revenue, while the market awaits anxiously for details of its newly announced major overhaul.

Business • 29 Oct 24

NatWest has reported pretax operating profit for the July-September period of £1.7 billion, up from £1.3 billion a year earlier

NatWest lifts performance forecasts as Q3 profit up 26%

NatWest has today reported a 26% rise in third-quarter profit and raised its outlook for 2024, as it expanded lending while maintaining margins in the face of falling central bank interest rates and a murky economic outlook.

Business • 25 Oct 24

Barclays today reported pretax profit for the July-September period of £2.2 billion, up from £1.9 billion a year ago

Barclays Q3 profit beats forecasts with 18% rise

Barclays today reported a forecast-beating 18% rise in third-quarter profit, as slower than expected interest rate cuts and upbeat investment banking prospects helped it raise its income outlook for the year.

Business • 24 Oct 24

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