Financial news

• Nice targets, but scepticism is hard to shake at Barclays | Nils Pratley

  20-02-2024 19:49
  
  Pledge to return £10bn to shareholders is overshadowed by investment division concernsA 9% rise in the share price counts as an enthusiastic reception for a new strategic plan, but don’t forget the context at Barclays. The shares are still worth a fifth less than in late-2021 when the chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan, or Venkat as he’s known, took the helm. At 162p, they also stand at slightly less than half the bank’s reported book value of its assets. Scepticism towa
  
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• Farmer Rish! woos the NFU conference in full-on panic to secure rural vote

  20-02-2024 16:26
  
  Downing Street team was in love-bombing mode at farmers’ union meeting in BirminghamEnter Farmer Rish!. You might have thought Rishi Sunak was a typical member of the globalist metrosexual elite. Sharp suits and sharper elbows as he rode the Goldman Sachs gravy train to bet against sterling. A man whose main connection to the countryside was as a view to be enjoyed from the privacy of his own helicopter.But no. It turns out that the prime minister is a man hewn from the soil. A sheep whisp
  
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• Monzo to clinch extra £350m from investors before expected listing

  20-02-2024 16:15
  
  Digital bank’s funding round led by CapitalG, the vehicle of Google’s parent company AlphabetMonzo is set to clinch another £350m in funding from investors, including a fund owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, signalling a vote of confidence in the UK digital bank that could push its valuation to £4bn.The bank, known for its hot coral-coloured debit cards, was last valued at $4.5bn (£3.5bn), after a $600m fundraising in late 2021. Continue reading...
  
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• Bank of England governor predicts UK recession will be ‘very small’ – business live

  20-02-2024 13:58
  
  Andrew Bailey tells MPs there are signs that UK economy is picking up, after GDP shrank in the last two quartersBarclays to cut costs by £2bn, raising fears of further job lossesAway from Barclays…Britain’s insecure jobs market and high housing costs are leading to the growth of a precarious middle class struggling to maintain a decent living standard on household incomes as high as £60,000 a year.A study released by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, a research body set up
  
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• UK electric air taxi firm handed another £8m by government

  20-02-2024 13:53
  
  Vertical Aerospace’s total taxpayer backing rises to £37m but investors largely remain scepticalBritain’s flying taxi pioneer, Vertical Aerospace, has been handed another £8m grant from the UK government, taking its total taxpayer backing to £37m as it attempts to get its electric aircraft off the ground.The company said that the funding to develop the propellers for its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVtol) aircraft was a “vote of confidence” i
  
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• Interest rates could be cut as Andrew Bailey says economy shows 'distinct signs' of upturn

  20-02-2024 13:24 via express.co.uk
  
  Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has said the recession that the UK entered at the end of last year was "very weak".
  
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• 'I'm a business boss - Jeremy Hunt should increase personal allowances to boost economy'

  20-02-2024 13:16 via express.co.uk
  
  EXCLUSIVE: The engineering company boss also called for tax breaks for small businesses.
  
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• I have your back, Rishi Sunak tells farmers at NFU conference

  20-02-2024 13:02
  
  Sunak becomes first PM to address conference since Gordon Brown in 2008, as Tories court farming sectorRishi Sunak has told farmers “I have your back”, at the National Farmers Union conference, as he promised to “change the culture” in government around farming.Sunak was the first prime minister to address the NFU conference since Gordon Brown in 2008, and took three Defra ministers with him to put the Conservative case to farmers. Continue reading...
  
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• UK infant formula at ‘historically high’ prices, says watchdog

  20-02-2024 12:35
  
  Competition and Markets Authority launches full-scale investigation after finding costs have risenThe cost of infant milk remains at “historically high” levels despite some price falls in recent months, Britain’s competition watchdog has said, as it launched a full-scale investigation into baby and toddler formula.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found in November that the average price of infant formula had risen by 25% in the past two years and families could save
  
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• Council tax to rise by maximum amount in almost all areas - check how much more you'll pay

  20-02-2024 12:05 via express.co.uk
  
  Nearly every local authority with responsibility for social care in England is planning to raise council tax by the maximum this April.
  
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• From starving students to emaciated pets: why are hunger and poverty the UK’s new normal? | Zoe Williams

  20-02-2024 12:00
  
  The Conservatives have taken pragmatic, everyday charity and kindness and used it to shore up the cruel state they have createdEven before the endless years of Tory immiseration, there was a steady buildup of language around poverty that was depressing because it wasn’t honest. What does “child poverty” mean? Aren’t all children poor? None of them work, all they do is learn, eat and ask for weirdly expensive magazines. All it can conceivably mean is to be a child in a poo
  
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• State pension triple lock shock as Labour pledge puts Tories on the spot

  20-02-2024 11:50 via express.co.uk
  
  With Keir Starmer's Labour Party romping ahead in the polls suddenly its policies on key issues like the state pension triple lock really matter. That could be good news for pensioners.
  
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• Barclays to cut costs by £2bn, raising fears of further job losses

  20-02-2024 11:44
  
  Bank announces drop in profits to £6.6bn as it says it plans to return more to shareholdersBusiness live – latest updatesBarclays is to cut £2bn in costs, raising fears of further job losses as the lender shrinks its investment bank in a corporate shake-up intended to increase shareholder payouts by £10bn within three years.Barclays released figures on Tuesday showing that pre-tax profits for 2023 fell to £6.6bn, down 6% from £7bn a year earlier and slightly l
  
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• NS&I responds as man wants to check mum's Premium Bonds after she died 21 years ago

  20-02-2024 10:50 via express.co.uk
  
  He wanted to check if the Bonds were still valid.
  
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• Lloyds bank issues urgent scam warning after woman, 83, loses £20,000 in 18 months

  20-02-2024 10:28 via express.co.uk
  
  The 83-year-old thought she had fallen in love with a man she met via an online Scrabble game.
  
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• Pensions warning as cost of comfortable retirement to double to £1million in 40 years

  20-02-2024 10:03 via express.co.uk
  
  Younger pension savers have been warned they may need to increase their contributions to afford the retirement they want.
  
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• UK middle classes ‘struggling despite incomes of up to £60,000 a year’

  20-02-2024 08:00
  
  Insecure jobs and high housing costs make it hard to maintain decent living standard, says abrdn Financial Fairness TrustBritain’s insecure jobs market and high housing costs are leading to the growth of a precarious middle class struggling to maintain a decent living standard on household incomes as high as £60,000 a year, a report has said.A study released by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, a research body set up by the fund manager, said the uncertain nature of work meant there wa
  
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• How to book a luxury break for less

  20-02-2024 08:00
  
  Be flexible and bag the best bargains from start, in an airport lounge with free food and drink, to end, in a five-star hotelBeing flexible about destinations, and when you go, is a good way to save, says Rory Boland, travel editor at consumer group Which?. Continue reading...
  
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• Unions warn against watering down Labour reforms of workers’ rights and ban on zero-hours contracts

  20-02-2024 07:00
  
  TUC call follows admission by CBI president that it is pushing party to soften its plansUnion leaders have warned business groups against pushing Keir Starmer to water down Labour’s plans to introduce sweeping reforms of workers’ rights and a ban on zero-hours contracts.As the Labour leader comes under pressure from industry to scale back its shake-up of employment laws, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the plans were “extremely popular” with voters and good for the e
  
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• Notting Hill residents’ capital gains exceed people of ‘three cities combined’

  20-02-2024 07:00
  
  Study shows people in London district made more in 2015-19 than combined populations of Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle People living in Notting Hill, west London, received more in capital gains from 2015 to 2019 than the combined population of Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle according to an analysis of capital gains tax.Analysis of anonymised personal tax returns found that 97% of the population never receive any capital gain, and those that do are very likely to be among the very riche
  
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