According to the Lloyds TSB Business Unit the economy in Scotland is growing, albeit at a lower than hoped for rate.
Looking at the last three months almost 40 percent of businesses in Scotland reported that turnover was up, a third remained unchanged whilst 28 percent had seen a reduction. When combined these figures show a net gain of 11 percent – better than the quarter before but much less than the same time last year. A Lloyds TSB economist reported that Scottish businesses were expecting their figures to reduce in the next 6 months though their actual performance was better than the rest of the country.
Both manufacturing and service industries had enjoyed growth over the last quarter, which is a very healthy situation, though some business owners were telling the Lloyds TSB survey that they were beginning to notice the access to credit tightening up which could be a concern in the future.
Barclays saw a drop in profits of a third for the first half of the year, with write downs impacting seriously on the bottom line. Barclays Insurance though, a division of the bank, performed very well.
The bank still made profits of GBP2.75 billion despite the write downs and, even though the bank itself was disappointed, industry analysts felt this was better than could have been expected. Other financial institutions have suffered much more dramatic cuts than Barclays, insurance and other sectors helping support the bank.
Looking forwards the Barclays management team are expecting trading conditions to remain testing and are advising the market that it could be some time before they are back to previous levels of profitability. Barclays Insurance, having performed very well, may actually see some parts of it sold to bolster the balance sheet.
Long standing Citigroup executive is leaving the organization, of which Citibank is a major part, after 23 years with the organization. The move is seen to be part of the business transformation being led by new CEO Vikram Pandit.
Citibank and parent Citigroup have been well looked after by Mr Klein, who was a key part of the management team, using his influence to secure multi-billion dollar investments from overseas. These investments were instrumental in keeping the company in the game as they suffered at the hands of the US credit crisis.
The move is amicable it is understood, with many people expecting it since Mr Klein was moved away from running the day to day operations of Citibank. It is expected that, like others recently, Mr Klein will probably head up a different financial organization, especially with the contacts and experience the 44 year old can bring.
