Lloyds TSB first-half profits falls 70%
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds TSB first-half profits falls 70%
Lloyds TSB, the High Street bank that appeared to have been left relatively unscathed by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, has announced a sharp fall in first-half profit.
In the six months to the end of June profit fell 70% on the same period of 2007, as the bank wrote down £585 million.
The group posted statutory [...]
Abbey poised to overtake Halifax as UK’s largest mortgage lender
by Gill Montia
Story link: Abbey poised to overtake Halifax as UK’s largest mortgage lender
Abbey’s share of the UK mortgage market increased to 25% in the first half of 2008, having trebled to 15.9% in the first three months of the year (year-on-year).
While other lenders have been scaling back, Abbey’s Spanish parent company, Santander, has cushioned it from large scale funding difficulties and the bank is now poised to [...]
Wachovia reports Q2 losses
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Wachovia reports Q2 losses
In line with forecasts, Wachovia has reported a Q2 loss of $8.9bn, equating to $4.20 per share net loss.
The loss includes a $6.1bn noncash goodwill impairment charge, corresponding to falling assets values and market valuations.
The charge does not, however, have an affect upon the firm’s tangible capital levels, regulatory capital ratios or on liquidity.
With the [...]
HBOS shareholders shun rights issue with 8.29% take-up
by Gill Montia
Story link: HBOS shareholders shun rights issue with 8.29% take-up
HBOS has revealed that only 8.29% of shareholders have taken up their rights in the bank’s £4 billion fundraising.
The rights issue is underwritten by Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort who are now faced with placing £3.5 billion worth of the group’s stock.
Shares in the bank have this morning been trading at 3p below the rights [...]
HBOS faces rights issue failure
by Gill Montia
Story link: HBOS faces rights issue failure
The take-up of HBOS’s rights issue may be so poor that it could leave underwriters, Morgan Stanley and Dresdner, with £3.6 billion worth of the bank’s stock.
According to reports in the press over the weekend, only around 10% of shareholders participated in £4 billion fundraising.
The group, which owns Halifax and Bank of [...]
Barclays’ small shareholders resist £4.5bn cash call
by Gill Montia
Story link: Barclays’ small shareholders resist £4.5bn cash call
Barclays has announced that shareholder take-up of its £4.5 billion fundraising stood at 19%.
The cash call took the form of an “open” rather than a “rights” issue to avoid the problems with volatile share prices encountered by the rights issues of HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland.
However, shareholders have been reluctant to partake because Barclay’s [...]
JP Morgan and Merrill post second quarter results
by Gill Montia
Story link: JP Morgan and Merrill post second quarter results
US investment bank JP Morgan Chase has recorded second-quarter profits above market expectations.
The firm wrote down $1.1 billion during the quarter and net profit fell year-on-year by 53%, to $2 billion.
However, $540 million of the write down was in connection with the firm’s acquisition of Bear Stearns, in May.
The news was well received by Wall [...]
B&B shareholders vote in favour of £400m rights issue
by Gill Montia
Story link: B&B shareholders vote in favour of £400m rights issue
Bradford & Bingley (B&B) shareholders have voted in favour of the bank’s proposed rights issue.
The buy-to-let lender has reported that around 223 million shareholders voted for the plan, while seven million voted against and nine million abstained.
Support for the £400 million fundraising came despite the bank’s share price having dropped below the rights issue price [...]
B&B shares plunge as £400 million fundraising relaunched
by Gill Montia
Story link: B&B shares plunge as £400 million fundraising relaunched
Bradford & Bingley (B&B) saw its shares plunge to 43p yesterday, well below the 55p issue price of its £400 million fundraising.
The buy-to-let lender has had its credit rating cut by Moody’s, from A3 to Baa1, with the result that private equity firm, Texas Pacific Group, has withdrawn from an agreement to inject £179 million [...]
B&B revisits £400m right issue as TPG walks away
by Gill Montia
Story link: B&B revisits £400m right issue as TPG walks away
Bradford & Bingley (B&B) has revised its fundraising plans and reverted to its original decision to raise up to £400 million from shareholders in a rights issue.
At the beginning of June, the buy-to-let lender announced that it would be shoring up its balance sheet with an injection of £179 million from private equity firm, Texas [...]
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 [...]
