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Lloyds Banking Group is the UK's biggest lender of home loans

Lloyds posts falling half year pretax profit

Lloyds Banking Group has today reported a 14% fall in first half pretax profit to £3.3 billion, just above forecasts, but tougher than expected trading conditions and rising costs hit its shares.

Business • 25 Jul 24

A Nationwide Building Society branch (right) and a Virgin Money UK bank branch (left) in Middlesbrough

UK regulator clears Nationwide-Virgin Money deal

UK building society Nationwide's £2.9 billion takeover of banking firm Virgin Money has been cleared by the UK's competition regulator.

Business • 19 Jul 24

Reform UK leader and recently elected MP Nigel Farage said he believed he had been targeted because of his status as a politically exposed person (PEP)

UK banks must improve how they treat parliamentarians

The UK's financial watchdog said it wants banks to improve the way they treat political figures, after being urged by the former government to look into whether people were being unfairly debanked.

Business • 18 Jul 24

The UK state's ownership of the bank has gone from just under 38% in December to 19.97% today, the bank said today

UK government's shareholding in NatWest falls below 20%

The British government's stake in NatWest fell below 20% today, the bank said, moving the lender closer to full private ownership after its state bailout in the 2008 financial crisis.

Business • 15 Jul 24

Co-op Bank lends to consumers and small and medium-sized businesses in the UK

Coventry Building Society to buy Co-op Bank for £780m

Britain's Coventry Building Society will acquire Co-operative Bank for £780m in cash, the two companies said in a joint statement today.

Business • 24 May 24

Nationwide has extended its promise not to close more of its 605 branches until 2028

Nationwide profit slips amid mortgage market competition

Nationwide Building Society said it could realise as much as a £1.5 billion gain on its acquisition of rival Virgin Money, announced earlier this year and expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Business • 23 May 24

NatWest was the UK's biggest casualty of the 2008 global financial crisis

NatWest share sale to test UK equity market upswing

Britain's plans to sell shares in NatWest bank to the public this summer will be a test of a long-awaited upswing in the UK stock market that saw the FTSE-100 hit a record high this week - months after similar milestones for benchmark indexes elsewhere.

Business • 29 Apr 24

NatWest said its pretax operating profit for the January-March period was £1.3 billion, down from £1.8 billion a year earlier

NatWest's Q1 profit slumps 27% as competition bites

UK bank NatWest's first-quarter profit fell by a less than expected 27%, it said today, with income squeezed by an increase in competition for savings, lending and mortgage products over the past year.

Business • 26 Apr 24

Barclays today reported pre-tax profit for the January-March period of £2.277 billion

Barclays Q1 profit falls 12% as mortgage competition hits

Barclays has today reported a 12% fall in first quarter profit, as a squeeze on UK mortgage pricing, lower income from trading and a drought of M&A fees showed the difficulties it will face in delivering its first strategic revamp in a decade.

Business • 25 Apr 24

Lloyds Banking Group, the UK's biggest mortgage lender. reported a first quarter pretax profit of £1.6 billion, down from £2.3 billion a year ago

Lloyds Bank eyes house price rally as Q1 profit drops

Lloyds Banking Group's pretax profit slid by 28% in the first quarter, as rising costs, peaking interest rates and intensifying competition in the mortgage market hit income.

Business • 24 Apr 24

The UK regulator began looking into potential overcharging in the motor finance industry in January

UK banks must prepare for car finance claims - watchdog

British lenders have been told by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ensure they are adequately prepared to meet the potential costs of customer complaints arising from its review into the motor finance industry.

Business • 12 Apr 24

David Duffy, CEO of Virgin Money is due to retire soon

Nationwide, Virgin Money directors back £2.9 billion deal

Directors at Nationwide Building Society and takeover target Virgin Money said today they would "unanimously" recommend the proposed £2.9 billion deal to independent Virgin Money shareholders.

Business • 21 Mar 24

Barclays cut its workforce by around 5,000 jobs in 2023 as part of an ongoing major cost-cutting drive

Barclays poised to cut hundreds of investment bank jobs

Barclays is preparing to axe hundreds of jobs across its investment bank as it runs the rule over under-performers in the division, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Business • 21 Mar 24

Metro Bank said today that the bulk of its branches - 44 sites - will only be open five days a week, from Monday to Friday

UK's Metro Bank warns of more job losses

Metro Bank has confirmed it is axing around 1,000 jobs and warned over further staff cuts as part of an overhaul that will also see branches no longer open seven days a week.

Business • 13 Mar 24

Virgin Money is the UK's sixth largest retail bank by assets and has around 6.6 million customers

Nationwide offers to buy Virgin Money for £2.9 billion

Britain's Nationwide Building Society has agreed to buy Virgin Money UK in a potential £2.9 billion all-cash deal to create the country's second-largest savings and mortgage provider.

Business • 07 Mar 24

Standard Chartered has today reported 2023 statutory pre-tax profit rose to $5.09 billion, in line with its forecasts

StanChart's profits up as CEO bemoans 'crap' share price

Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters today acknowledged the bank's underwhelming share price and vowed to fix it as the lender announced increased dividends, a fresh $1 billion buyback and an 18% increase in annual profit.

Business • 23 Feb 24

Lloyds Banking Group has today reported pre-tax profit of £7.5 billion for 2023, up from £4.8 billion the prior year

Lloyds' 2023 profit jumps despite UK outlook

Lloyds Banking Group has today reported a 57% jump in profit for 2023, as Britain's faltering economy and a charge for potential costs from a regulatory review into motor finance failed to put a major dent in its performance.

Business • 22 Feb 24

Barclays today reported a pretax profit of £6.6 billion, down from £7 billion the year before

Barclays annual profit falls 6%, unveils overhaul

Barclays has today laid out a three-year plan to revive its flagging share price today, including axing £2 billion of costs, returning £10 billion to shareholders and investing in its high-returning UK retail bank.

Business • 20 Feb 24

NatWest has been searching for a new CEO after Alison Rose was forced to leave last year after a row between the bank and former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage

NatWest to appoint Paul Thwaite as permanent CEO - report

UK bank NatWest is preparing to appoint Paul Thwaite, its interim chief executive, as the permanent successor to former CEO Alison Rose, Sky News has reported.

Business • 15 Feb 24

NatWest shares are £100 lower this year compared to the same time last year

Brexit, crisis 'hangover' keep UK bank shares undervalued

Shares of British banks are undervalued partly by lingering perceptions that they are still hampered by Brexit and a negative political climate toward the institutions, Britain's financial services minister has said.

Business • 14 Feb 24

Low UK bank valuations a 'puzzle' - Bank of England chief

Low stock market valuations for Britain's major banks are hard to explain, given that they are safer investments than they were before the 2007-08 global financial crisis, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has said.

Business • 13 Feb 24

British challenger bank Virgin Money said it was seeing an improvement in the mortgage market activity

Virgin Money sees improvement in mortgages

British challenger bank Virgin Money has retained its annual profit margin forecast and said it had seen improvement in the mortgage market activity, with application volumes closer to pre-pandemic levels last month.

Business • 06 Feb 24

TSB had 5,426 employees by the end of 2023, down from 5,482 in 2022

British bank TSB to cut jobs and close branches

TSB, the British lender owned by Spain's Sabadell will cut jobs and close branches to improve its efficiency, the CEO of the Spanish bank told a press conference today after TSB set aside restructuring costs of £29m.

Business • 01 Feb 24

Britain's Co-op Bank has been working to turn around its finances

Co-Operative Bank in talks with Coventry BS

Britain's Co-Operative Bank said today it had entered a period of exclusive discussions with Coventry Building Society with a view to a possible merger, after kickstarting a strategic review on November 8.

Business • 21 Dec 23

The Bank of England said it estimates the impact of the final leg of Basel on UK banks will be 'low'

UK banks face smaller impact from Basel rules

The Bank of England said today that implementing the final leg of the global Basel bank rules will increase capital requirements at UK banks by 3%, far less than for their European Union and US peers.

Business • 12 Dec 23

Uk Banks