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By: Staff Reporter
Several UK banks have reported strong results this week in news which bodes well for the international financial system.
Barclay’s Bank yesterday reported a 29 per cent rise in net profit to £3.9 billion for the first half of the year while the British arm of HSBC reported a net profit for the first half of £7.2 billion net profit on Monday. This was up from just £3.35 billion one year earlier.
Meanwhile Lloyds delivered another recovery in profits on Wednesday with a pre-tax profit of £1.6 billion, compared to £3.9 billion in losses one year ago.
The results come as the Bank of England moved to hold the official cash rate at a record low of just 0.5 per cent yesterday.
The British cash rate has been on hold at 0.5 per cent since March 2009 as the economy continues to struggle to pull itself out of recession. While the UK economy did enjoy a small burst of growth in the second quarter of the year any sustained recovery is yet to occur.
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