From 1h ago 05. 56 EST NatWest criticised after hiking bonuses NatWest is facing criticism after hiking its bonus pool to £367m, from 298m a year earlier. Fran Boait , executive director at campaign group Positive Money, points out that the taxpayer bailed out Royal Bank of Scotland, as NatWest was then known, after the financial crisis.
. css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1. 5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} “NatWest is using bumper profits to deepen its bonus pool, not to support the public, who bailed it out just 15 years ago, and who are now footing the bill of the higher interest rates boosting those very same profits.
“It is completely unjust that bankers who create only more wealth for the already-rich get pay boosts whilst those who educate, transport and care for the public are forced onto picket lines for fair wages. “Clearly the government was reckless in its decision to remove the cap on bankers’ bonuses, which needs to be reinstated, and should tax these unmerited profits in order to provide struggling communities with financial support. ” Banks such as NatWest have benefitted from higher net interest margins due to rising interest rates – lifted to tackle the inflation surge from the energy crisis.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham is calling for a windfall tax on the banks: . css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1. 5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} “It’s offensive that government ministers are insisting NHS workers take another savage pay cut while their big City banker friends are given carte blanche to make billions.
“Rishi Sunak needs to put a real powerful windfall tax on the excess profits of the big banks. Like the energy companies, the greed of the big banks is fuelling the cost-of-living crisis. An epidemic of profiteering has brought this country to its knees - workers are not responsible for it and should not have to pay for it.
It is time the government held the big business interests that profit, while everyone else pays the price, to account. ” It’s offensive that @GOVUK ministers are insisting #NHS workers take another savage pay cut while their big City banker friends are given carte blanche to make billions. @RishiSunak needs to put a real powerful #WindfallTax on the excess profits of the big banks.
1/3 ???? pic. twitter. com/vKFmbbqzxr — Sharon Graham (@UniteSharon) February 17, 2023 Updated at 06.
13 EST Key events 21m ago European natural gas prices fall to 18-month low as energy crisis eases 1h ago NatWest criticised after hiking bonuses 3h ago UK fuel imports jumped 119% last year 3h ago Soros: Adani crisis will spur ‘democratic revival in India’ 3h ago George Soros calls for weather control to fight climate change 4h ago Energy giant EDF slumps to record £16bn loss 4h ago FTSE falls back from record highs 4h ago NatWest makes largest profit since financial crisis on higher rates 5h ago Charts: How food sales are falling as prices spiral 5h ago ONS: the general trend remains one of decline 5h ago Introduction: Retail sales rose in January Filters BETA Key events ( 11 ) UK ( 9 ) NatWest Group ( 6 ) Office for National Statistics ( 4 ) Alison Rose ( 4 ) US ( 3 ) 21m ago 07. 02 EST European natural gas prices fall to 18-month low as energy crisis eases In the energy markets, the price of European natural gas has fallen to its lowest level in almost 18 months. The European benchmark contract for gas delivery next month dropped 5% this morning to a low of €48.
90 per megawatt hour, the lowest since the end of August 2021. In late August 2022 the price surged over €300/MWh, when Russia intensified the squeeze on Europe by turning off the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline for maintenance . The month-ahead benchmark European gas contract over the last two years Photograph: Refinitiv Gas prices have fallen after European countries scrambled to fill storage tanks to see them through the winter, and also cut demand, helped by a mild winter.
Salomon Fiedler , economist at Berenberg bank, says . css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1. 5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} Since Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, natural gas has been the single most important driver of Europe’s economic fortunes.
Without the sharp reduction in Russian gas deliveries, Europe would now likely be enjoying above-average growth rates due to the post-COVID-19 rebound, instead of suffering near stagnation. But at least Europeans have been able to avoid the worst outcome: outright gas shortages necessitating forced cut-offs, which would wreak havoc on the economy. EU gas storage remains at reasonably comfortable levels, Fiedler adds: .
css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1. 5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} On 14 February stores were 65% full – close to the maximum for that time of the year and 19ppt higher than the average for the 2015-20 reference period. Updated at 07.
09 EST 44m ago 06. 39 EST NatWest’s CEO, Dame Alison Rose, has denied that its jump in profits last year was just due to higher interest rates (which swelled its net interest margins). Asked about the £5.
1bn profits achieved last year, Rose told Sky News it was a “strong performance by the bank”. She sad it’s due to the “continuing delivery of our strategy, and the strong support of our customers”. Rose points out that NatWest stayed in the mortgage market during the disruption last year, caused by the mini-budget, and is continuing to “lend responsibly” to businesses.
Rose warns, though, that customers still face “challenging macroeconomic conditions”. Chief Executive of Natwest Dame Alison Rose tells @IanKingSky 'it's not just high interest rates' leading to record profits of £5. 1bn in 2022 - the banks best results since the 2008 financial crisis Latest: https://t.
co/Cg2CfcwOHK ???? Sky 501, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic. twitter. com/1FwsNS7PL7 — Sky News (@SkyNews) February 17, 2023 1h ago 06.
16 EST NatWest’s shares are still dragging the FTSE 100 index down this morning. They’re down 6. 25%, despite the bank swelling its profits last year.
Traders are calculating that the bank may not make such large profits from higher interest rates this year, as Russ Mould , investment director at AJ Bell , explains: . css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1. 5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} NatWest may have delivered its biggest profit since the financial crisis but investors are far more concerned about what’s coming next and that’s less positive.
“Income for 2023 is now guided to be lower than expected, with the key net interest margin metric also falling short. Costs are also set to be higher than forecast. “While impairments are anticipated to be a bit lower than estimates the market may be cautious of taking NatWest at its word given the difficult backdrop for consumers and businesses which could lead to a big increase in bad debts.
“With the rate cycle nearing its peak the recent momentum in banking shares could be difficult to maintain. Whether this will act as a catalyst for the government to sell down more of its remaining stake remains to be seen. “NatWest’s rescue by the state during the financial crisis means criticism of its tardiness in passing on higher interest rates to savers arguably carries more weight and that could have some impact on profitability.
” 1h ago 06. 08 EST Kalyeena Makortoff The chief executive of NatWest, Alison Rose, received a £5. 2m pay packet in 2022, becoming the bank’s second-highest-paid boss after the controversial ex-banker Fred Goodwin , after the lender reported its largest profit since before the 2008 financial crisis.
The bailed out bank – which is still 44% owned by the taxpayer – revealed on Friday that Rose’s pay had soared by 46% from £3. 6m a year earlier, partly because of the higher value of shares doled out as part of her long-term incentive plan. NatWest increased the total bonus pool for its bankers to £367m from 298m a year earlier, after making bumper profits of £5.
1bn in 2022, up 33% and the highest since 2007, when profits hit £10bn. The rise in profits last year was partly as a result of a rise in loan and mortgage costs, exacerbating the wider cost of living crisis for borrowers. NatWest CEO receives £5.
2m in pay as bank reports largest profits since 2007 Read more 1h ago 05. 56 EST NatWest criticised after hiking bonuses NatWest is facing criticism after hiking its bonus pool to £367m, from 298m a year earlier. Fran Boait , executive director at campaign group Positive Money, points out that the taxpayer bailed out Royal Bank of Scotland, as NatWest was then known, after the financial crisis.
. css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1. 5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} “NatWest is using bumper profits to deepen its bonus pool, not to support the public, who bailed it out just 15 years ago, and who are now footing the bill of the higher interest rates boosting those very same profits.
“It is completely unjust that bankers who create only more wealth for the already-rich get pay boosts whilst those who educate, transport and care for the public are forced onto picket lines for fair wages. “Clearly the government was reckless in its decision to remove the cap on bankers’ bonuses, which needs to be reinstated, and should tax these unmerited profits in order to provide struggling communities with financial support. ” Banks such as NatWest have benefitted from higher net interest margins due to rising interest rates – lifted to tackle the inflation surge from the energy crisis.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham is calling for a windfall tax on the banks: . css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1. 5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} “It’s offensive that government ministers are insisting NHS workers take another savage pay cut while their big City banker friends are given carte blanche to make billions.
“Rishi Sunak needs to put a real powerful windfall tax on the excess profits of the big banks. Like the energy companies, the greed of the big banks is fuelling the cost-of-living crisis. An epidemic of profiteering has brought this country to its knees - workers are not responsible for it and should not have to pay for it.
It is time the government held the big business interests that profit, while everyone else pays the price, to account. ” It’s offensive that @GOVUK ministers are insisting #NHS workers take another savage pay cut while their big City banker friends are given carte blanche to make billions. @RishiSunak needs to put a real powerful #WindfallTax on the excess profits of the big banks.
1/3 ???? pic. twitter. com/vKFmbbqzxr — Sharon Graham (@UniteSharon) February 17, 2023 Updated at 06.
13 EST 2h ago 05. 29 EST Online estate agent Purplebricks is looking for a buyer, after issuing a profit warning this morning. Purplebricks now expects to make a loss of between £15m and £20m on an adjusted EBITDA basis, worse than the £8.
8m expected in December . The company told shareholders this morning that its turnaround strategy, focusing on profitable areas, had caused more disruption to sales than expected, meaning new instructions from home sellers were lower than expected. Shares in Purplebricks have dropped 15% this morning to 8.
3p, a record low. They floated at 100p in late 2025, and five years ago they were worth £4 each. Photograph: Refinitiv In recent years the company has faced legal action from 100 estate agents who argue that they were in effect employed by the company so should be entitled to holiday pay and pension contributions.
It also set aside up to £9m after its lettings business failed to follow law protecting tenants’ deposits. Purplebricks to set aside up to £9m to cover lettings errors Read more Today, CEO Helena Marston says Purplebricks’ market value does not reflect its ‘upside potential’: . css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.
5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} “We have undertaken a huge amount of work in the last 9 months to improve our sales business, raise standards, establish Purplebricks Financial Services, and stabilise lettings, all of which means the Company has never been in better shape for the future. Yes, the actions we have taken have caused more short-term disruption to our Q3 performance than anticipated, but we remain confident in returning to positive cash generation in early FY24. We recognise that our upside potential is not currently reflected in our market valuation, which is why the entire Board has therefore concluded that a strategic review is now in the best interests of all shareholders.
” The writing is “purple” on the wall. Purple bricks shares slide 12% “The Group now expects to deliver revenue for FY23 of between £60 million and £65 million, and an adjusted EBITDA loss of between £15 million and £20 million. ” https://t.
co/vuunQDKOoa … — Emma Fildes (@emmafildes) February 17, 2023 Updated at 05. 45 EST 2h ago 04. 59 EST Getting back to the latest retail sales figures , Philip Shaw of Investec says it is “notable” how high street spending has taken the strain of the cost of living crisis.
He says: UK retail sales volumes picked up by 0. 5% in January after a revised 1. 2% decline in December ( as covered in our introduction ).
Consensus and Investec estimates had been for a 0. 3% fall. Sales ex-fuel climbed by 0.
4%. Food store sales slipped by 0. 5% on the month, while non-food outlets saw a 0.
6% increase. Within the latter category though, sales in textiles and clothing stores dropped sharply, by 2. 9%.
Meanwhile volumes in non-store retailing (mainly online retailers) were buoyant, recording a gain of 2. 0%. The retail sales series is notoriously volatile and especially so around the Christmas and New Year period.
Accordingly we would hesitate to read too much from this specific data point. Indeed the background remains unequivocally weak. Sales volumes are now 5.
1% lower than a year ago and we would note that there was only one monthly increase during the entirety of 2022. 3h ago 04. 39 EST UK fuel imports jumped 119% last year The UK spent more than twice as much importing fuel last year than in 2021, due to the energy price shock.
New figures just released by the ONS show that the value of fuel imports increased by 119% in 2022, an increase of £63. 6bn. This was driven by the price of gas reaching record levels last year, says the ONS, adding: High fuel prices have had a knock-on effect on the pricing of other commodities, with increased transport and production costs contributing to rising prices across most commodities.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupted trade in multiple commodity types, resulting in changes to trade partners for the UK and increased import prices. More expensive fuel helped to push up the cost
