Although the credit crunch has impacted on the performance of financial organisations across the country Lloyds TSB feel they are still on course to achieve their objectives for the year.
The well known high street operator Lloyds TSB saw their results down by almost GBP390 million because of the credit crunch but still saw a Q1 pre-tax profit that was up by over 10 percent. This is a great achievement for the organisation though some observers will wonder how much customers are paying over the odds to help them achieve such results.
A representative from Lloyds TSBexplained that they operated in a prudent fashion and so were not over exposed in the American sub prime mortgage collapse like many others.
In 2007 approximately 18,000 unsecured personal loans were taken out to pay for school fees, with a total value of around GBP165 million according to Sainsburys Bank.
Looking at the historical data Sainsburys Bank also found that over GBP2 billion extra was spent on school fees in 2006 compared with just 2 years previously. This is a massive additional amount to cover and explains the increasing use of unsecured personal loans and other forms of borrowing to fund childrens educations.
Looking ahead Sainsburys Bank also expect the trend to continue. With a rising cost of living, more children enjoying private education and also the fact that school fees themselves rise at levels well above the rate of inflation they are predicting more borrowing.
A study by the Abbey National Business Bank department has found that around a third of small business owners are worried about the coming 12 months.
They see their economic prospects for the period as being of concern and even poor according to the feedback received by the Abbey National. About 12 percent of respondents claimed to see an increase in clients not paying bills, with about thirty percent seeing payment delays.
On a positive note though the Abbey National also saw some 14 percent of small business owners feeling that economic difficulties will bring opportunities. It is all about perspective said a spokesman, that and the ability to effectively manage cashflow to maintain the business when money is slow to come in.
