Shareholders approve HBOS rights issue
by Gill Montia
Story link: Shareholders approve HBOS rights issue
HBOS’ £4 billion rights issue has secured the backing of the majority of its shareholders.
The bank has been forced into its cash call by writedowns from the credit crisis.
The fundraising has already encountered problems in the form of volatile share movements, which have been attributed to traders short-selling and resulted in an inconclusive investigation by […]
Barclays invites small shareholders into £4.5bn fundraising
by Gill Montia
Story link: Barclays invites small shareholders into £4.5bn fundraising
Barclays has clarified the positions of its small shareholders with regard to its fundraising.
Earlier this week, the bank announced that it was raising £4.5 billion in an issue of 1.58 billion shares.
The move involved Qatar Investment Authority, the authority’s chairman, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) each taking […]
Barclays raises £4.5bn from Qatar and Sumitomo Mitsui
by Gill Montia
Story link: Barclays raises £4.5bn from Qatar and Sumitomo Mitsui
Barclays has announced that it is raising £4.5 billion in an issue of 1.58 billion shares.
The move involves Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the authority’s chairman, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), which will each take a stake in the bank.
QIA is a sovereign fund that was set up […]
Santander aim for €10bn profit in 2008
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Santander aim for €10bn profit in 2008
The Annual General Meeting of Spanish bank Banco Santander, chaired by Emilio Botín, saw the firm’s 2007 results given approval by the assembled shareholders.
Botín stated that the group was aiming for total profit of €10bn during the next year.
The chairman was confident about the future of the firm, referring to the fact that share dividends […]
Barclays looks to overseas investors for £4bn
by Gill Montia
Story link: Barclays looks to overseas investors for £4bn
Barclays has confirmed that it will be raising new capital from foreign investors. The bank is reported to be seeking up to £4 billion from sovereign funds.
The decision will no doubt have been influenced by the experiences of Bradford & Bingley (B&B), Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS.
The rights issues of all three banks […]
RBS sells Angel Trains for £3.6bn
by Gill Montia
Story link: RBS sells Angel Trains for £3.6bn
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has confirmed that it has sold its Angel Trains rolling-stock leasing business to a consortium headed by Babcock & Brown, for £3.6 billion.
Other members of the consortium include Deutsche Bank and AMP Capital Investors.
The sale forms part of a major fundraising programme that includes a successfully completed £12 billion rights […]
HBOS share price continues to endanger rights issue
by Gill Montia
Story link: HBOS share price continues to endanger rights issue
Yesterday’s fall in the share price of HBOS was followed by a further decline early today.
The group, which owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland, saw the value of its stock fall further below the 275p price of it £4 billion rights issue, although around midday the price rallied to 274p.
The issue price of 275p represents […]
HBOS rights issue in jeopardy
by Gill Montia
Story link: HBOS rights issue in jeopardy
HBOS’s £4 billion rights issue looked in jeopardy today as the bank’s share price fell below the proposed offer price of 275p.
Shares in the UK’s largest mortgage lender fell almost 12%, to 258p, as the markets took up the strain of mounting concerns over the UK housing market.
This week’s news on the property sector has […]
RBS head forecasts difficult year ahead
by Gill Montia
Story link: RBS head forecasts difficult year ahead
Fresh from his successful fundraising in the form of a £12 billion rights issue, the head of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Sir Fred Goodwin, has warned of a difficult year ahead.
The bank’s chief executive said that trading in the first six months of 2008 will be in line with expectations but given that no […]
High Street five support B&B fundraising
by Gill Montia
Story link: High Street five support B&B fundraising
Bradford & Bingley (B&B) will receive the support of the UK’s five largest High Street banks in its troubled fundraising event.
The buy-to-let lender originally planned to raise £330 million from shareholders in a rights issue but had to redraw its plans when a profit warning left its share price plummeting close to the issue price.
The […]
RBS £12bn rights issue 95% subscribed
by Gill Montia
Story link: RBS £12bn rights issue 95% subscribed
The UK banking sector has today breathed a sigh of relief on the news that Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) £12 billion rights issue has proceeded to plan, having been 95.11% subscribed.
Last week’s banking news was dominated by the difficulties experienced by Bradford & Bingley in its attempts to raise only a few hundred million […]
HBOS offers “cashless take-up” of rights issue
by Gill Montia
Story link: HBOS offers “cashless take-up” of rights issue
HBOS is trying to woo its small shareholders over its £4 billion rights issue.
The group, which owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland, has a large number of small private investors because it was formed from the demutualisation of Halifax Building Society a decade ago; around 800,000 hold 200 shares or less.
In a move aimed […]
B&B shares plummet as profit vanishes and arrears rise
by Gill Montia
Story link: B&B shares plummet as profit vanishes and arrears rise
Bradford & Bingley’s (B&B) shares fell to an all time low of 65.5p this morning.
The lender recorded an £8 million pre-tax loss in the first four months of the year, compared to pre-tax profit of £107 million in the same period of 2007.
The bank also reported that the number of borrowers who are more […]
Guaranty Trust Bank profits rise by 74%
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Guaranty Trust Bank profits rise by 74%
Guaranty Trust Bank, one of Nigeria’s most prominent banking organisations, has exceeded its expectations with a N27.4bn pre-tax profit for the financial year 2007/2008.
The profits represent a rise of 74% from the N15.7bn achieved a year earlier.
The firm’s financial results were revealed to the floor of the NSE (Nigerian Stock Exchange) and showed that earnings […]
B&B rescued by £150m Texas Pacific deal
by Gill Montia
Story link: B&B rescued by £150m Texas Pacific deal
Bradford & Bingley (B&B) has announced that private equity firm, Texas Pacific Group (TPG), is injecting £150 million into the struggling buy-to-let lender.
The bank is also expected to issue a profit warning today and confirm that it will be appointing a new chief executive. Incumbent, Steven Crawshaw, is understood to be retiring because of ill […]
Moody’s issues negative credit rating for UK banks
by Gill Montia
Story link: Moody’s issues negative credit rating for UK banks
Moody’s Investors’ Service has reported that its outlook for the direction of credit conditions in the UK banking system is negative.
The credit rating agency has based this view on the likelihood of an economic downturn, which combined with high levels of consumer debt in the UK, could lead to a rise in bad debts and […]
Nationwide profits rise 17% despite 40% decline in lending
by Gill Montia
Story link: Nationwide profits rise 17% despite 40% decline in lending
Nationwide, the UK’s largest building society, has reported that new mortgage lending dropped by 40% in the twelve months to the beginning of April, to £6.7 billion.
Despite this dramatic fall, underlying pre-tax profits rose 17% to £781.1 million
The year saw customer deposits increase threefold, to £9.1 billion, as worried savers transferred cash from Northern Rock […]
UBS sells sub-prime assets at $7 billion loss
by Gill Montia
Story link: UBS sells sub-prime assets at $7 billion loss
UBS, the Swiss investment bank that has so far recorded larger losses from the credit crisis than any other financial institution, has sold some of its mortgage-backed securities to BlackRock, the fund manager.
The disposal has been made for $15 billion representing a $7 billion loss on the nominal value of the loans.
The move forms […]
UK profits up by 18% for Bank of Ireland
by Gill Montia
Story link: UK profits up by 18% for Bank of Ireland
The Bank of Ireland recorded a 6% rise in pre-tax profit for the 12 months to the end of March, to €1,794 million.
Business in the UK saw particularly strong growth during the year, with pre-tax profit increasing by 18%.
The bank reported that its Post Office Financial Services (POFS) joint venture contributed £15 million in profit […]
Barclays writes down £1bn and considers rights issue
by Gill Montia
Story link: Barclays writes down £1bn and considers rights issue
In a trading update, Barclays has revealed that it has written down a further £1 billion in relation to the credit crisis, in the first quarter of the year.
The bank’s investment division, Barclays Capital, absorbed a £1.006 billion write down as credit market conditions worsened. However, the unit remained profitable overall.
Profit for the first quarter […]
