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Thursday lunchtime business bulletin
Struggling mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley said today it is cutting 370 jobs in a crackdown on costs.
The bulk of the job losses will come with the closure of its mortgage processing centre in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, which employs 300 people.
The move comes after B&B posted losses of £26.7m in the first half of the year, as the buy-to-let specialist is buffeted by credit crunch losses and rising arrears.
The FTSE 100 Index was heading for its first positive session of the week today with financial stocks setting the pace.
In the wake of President Bush’s plea for Congress’s help over the £383bn bail out package, banks and insurers were trading up, with Royal Bank of Scotland ahead nearly 5%.
Losses for some energy-facing stocks held back wider gains, and the Footsie was up 30 points to 5125.6 by mid-morning.
Insurers were featuring at the top of the riser’s board, helped by positive outlook comments from the boss of European insurance giant Axa. More Than owner RSA Insurance was up 10% or 14.4p to 157.9p, followed by Norwich Union group Aviva, up 6% to 29.25p to 520.5p.
RBS was 10p better off at 220p, with HBOS adding 7p to 187.5p. But Lloyds TSB moved in the opposite direction, falling 9p to 258p.
A mortgage lender has been fined £1.12m by the City watchdog for failings which led to borrowers losing £2.3m.
The Financial Services Authority said the fine on GE Money Home Lending was the first it had ever imposed on a mortgage lender in relation to its lending processes.
A total of 684 borrowers were affected by the problems at the group, losing an average of more than £3,000 each, although they have since been paid compensation.
The pound at 10am was US$1.8603 compared to US$1.8506 at the previous close while the euro at 10am was £0.7907 compared to £0.7924 at the previous close.
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