An agreement has been reached on the German consumer banking arm of Citibank, with the operation being sold to Credit Mutuel of France.
The deal will see the cash reserves of Citibank around GBP3.9 billion richer and help the bank on its way to the larger target of selling around GBP200 billion worth of assets over the coming three years. The bank was badly hit by the sub prime mortgage collapse in the United States and is now working to realign the business.
As well as selling assets Citibank is also looking to shed over 16,000 jobs in the same three year period. This is again to re-structure the organisation and will go hand in hand with the selling of businesses such as their German banking operation.
According to a Natwest Bank survey the people of Manchester are the biggest spenders in the UK, with the typical household spending GBP26,000 each year.
This spending figure is a full GBP2,000 more than the capital city, London, which will come as a big surprise to many. What may come as an even bigger surprise is that Manchester is also a great city for saving according to the Natwest Bank survey, with a higher than the national average 53 percent of Manchester residents putting money aside.
A spokesman from the Natwest Bank was pleased to see Manchester setting such a good example with their levels of savings, especially considering their spending habits. They should be seen as a shining example to others said the spokesman.
Abbey National owner Santander has reported profits for the first six months of the year up by 6 percent compared with the same time last year.
If a one off figure was removed from the figures then the actual profit generated by Santander, best known in the UK as the owner of the Abbey National, would have been a much higher 22 percent. This figure is also higher than analysts had predicted, although shares still traded down slightly on the day.
Santander are very much a global business, with connections to most parts of the world. This enables them to find many more opportunities to create profitable business since they are not tied to just one market. However even the Abbey National delivered good results for them, something that could not always have been expected with the economic situation currently facing UK businesses.
