Member Info for Eureka1963

Https://www.ft.com/content/fa336412-ad3a-4b3e-bef1-894c08413573

Lloyds Banking Group has rebuffed the latest £1bn attempt by the Barclay family to reclaim the Telegraph, attempting to reassure unsettled bidders in an auction for the British newspaper group.

Bidders for the centre-right broadsheet have been concerned by repeated offers by the Barclay family to take back control of The Telegraph and The Spectator by paying down much of the £1.1bn debt owed to Lloyds.

The bank, which placed the Telegraph into receivership in June, rejected a £1bn offer initially made by the family and backed by Middle Eastern investors as recently as three weeks ago, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Lloyds told the Barclays to either repay the £1.1bn with a transparently funded offer, or bid in an ongoing auction, those people said. The bank has contacted bidders to reassure them of progress in the auction, which aims to be completed by early next year, they added.

Analysts do not expect the sale price for the Telegraph to exceed £600mn based on market comparisons.

Https://www.ft.com/content/9be715ca-85ab-46a1-911e-5ffeb13bbc73

The London stock market is not what it was...

...pundits blame the depressed post-Brexit economy, red tape and yield-hungry fund managers. These factors have supposedly lumbered London with a large structural valuation discount.

Should UK private investors flee this scene of misery?..Perhaps not.

UBS analysis believes an inflection point is near. Only a slim sliver of UK defined benefit pension money is still invested in UK stocks. Defined contributions and other alternative retirement savings should now start mounting up. That should support broad market valuations, as well as the kind derived from like-for-like comparisons...

...Rock-bottom valuations of banking stocks hint at economic weakness and imminent disaster. They are at levels only seen during past financial shocks. Investors see the rate-driven profits boom as yesterday’s news...

Interesting read.

Lloyds (LON:LLOY) Bank has announced its collaboration with BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)'s iShares division to introduce an exchange traded fund (ETF) service, aimed at attracting self-directed investors...

https://uk.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/lloyds-bank-teams-up-with-blackrock-to-launch-etf-service-for-retail-investors-93CH-3176503

Another hat has been thrown into the ring to buy the Telegraph, according to reports, with GB backer and hedge fund tycoon Paul Marshall said to have hired bankers to look the business over.

https://uk.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/telegraph-media-in-sights-of-gb-news-backer--report-3151907

Lloyds has announced the closure of 53 more branches...

...The new announcement means 21 Lloyds Bank, 15 Halifax and 17 Bank of Scotland sites will go between September this year and May 2024.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12150159/Lloyds-close-53-branches-customers-make-online-banking.html

Eightyeight88

Received the following from Investor Relations (March 2023):

As indicated we don’t have all that information available however to add some further colour to our discussion I have provided some additional detail below.

Through Citra we intend to support the UK private rented sector transition to higher quality sustainable housing and be a long term investor in this area. Given our understanding and active participation in the UK property market and relationships with industry players it makes strategic sense.

We are initially focused on acquiring modern properties for rental to mid-market families and professional singles. We will then build the capability and expand in breadth and depth across UK and in rental sectors. We are targeting measured growth and although the current portfolio is small (a few hundred) we already have commercial terms in place to take this above 1,000 homes. For the current portfolio we have a 100% occupancy and good customer satisfaction.

This will be about measured growth, further strengthening our position in the UK housing market. We don’t disclose valuations but given the current size of the portfolio you can see that this is still relatively small relative to the size of the Group Balance Sheet.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11919649/Banks-announce-branch-closures-Lloyds-NatWest-shut-extra-80-sites.html

Lloyds Banking Group will close a further 26 more Lloyds branches and nine more Halifax branches.
It had previously said it would close 18 Halifax sites and 22 Lloyds branches between April and June this year.

We [LLOYDS BANKING GROUP] are initially focused on acquiring modern properties for rental to mid-market families and professional singles. We will then build the capability and expand in breadth and depth across UK and in rental sectors.
We are targeting measured growth and although the current portfolio is small (a few hundred) we already have commercial terms in place to take this above 1,000 homes.
For the current portfolio we have a 100% occupancy and good customer satisfaction.

During 2022, deficit contributions of £2.2 billion were paid into these schemes. The Group expects to make a further fixed contribution of £0.8 billion in the first half of 2023, consistent with 2021 and 2022. The Group has discussed with the Trustee the likelihood that further variable contributions will not be necessary in 2023 and beyond, dependent upon the outcome of the triennial valuation as at 31 December 2022.

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch is visiting Mexico today [9th February] to progress two significant post-Brexit deals, remove barriers to business, and grow both UK exports and investment...

...Top of the agenda is UK’s bid to join CPTPP – the 11-country Indo-Pacific trade bloc worth combined £9 trillion in GDP, with Mexico a founding member...
[We already have bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with seven of the eleven countries, and digital economy agreements with Singapore and Japan.]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/business-and-trade-secretary-targets-progress-on-post-brexit-trade-wins-in-first-visit-to-mexico

shorturl.at/gJTX9
Lloyds 'has lost £10bn' from staff pension pot: Calls for bank to reveal more details about state of fund...
...The pension plan, one of the biggest in the UK, was forced to sell 'a large proportion of its equity holdings' to meet urgent cash calls after former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's disastrous mini-Budget.

July 2022 Consensus
H1 2022 {Consensus} Profit for the period £2,368m

October 2022 Consensus
H1 2022 {Actual } Profit for the period £2,826m

https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2022/6/major-firms-continue-to-invest-in-the-prs--whats-the-latest

June 2022
Citra Living invests in 110 rental homes in Ashford, Kent

Last week, it was announced that Citra Living – which was established in July 2021 and is part of Lloyds Banking Group - had purchased 110 properties at the Riverside Park development in Ashford, Kent from Oxford-based housebuilder GRE Assets for an undisclosed sum...

...The apartments will be professionally managed by Citra Living and available to rent from autumn 2022.

It is understood that Lloyds could put between 60 and 100 branches on notice of being axed, representing the first in a wave of closures this year across its retail brands.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/saving/article-10630443/Why-Lloyds-Bank-set-axe-100-branches.html

Positive exposure to rate rises, although not primary driver of returns

+50bps Year 1 c.£375m Year 2 c.£525m Year 3 c.£800m
+25bps Year 1 c.£200m Year 2 c.£275m Year 3 c.£400m
-25bps Year 1 c.(£425m) Year 2 c.(£525m) Year 3 c.(£650m)

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) plans to become one of the UK's biggest landlords, with targets to buy 50,000 homes by 2030

Citra has set a "strategic challenge" of owning 10,000 properties by 2025, increasing to 50,000 by 2030. By 2025, the balance sheet would be worth about £4bn and generate about £300m in pre-tax profit

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/lloyds-banking-group-landlord-buying-50000-homes-084827363.html

Lloyds Banking Group is set to buy its first property under radical plans to become a private landlord.
City sources said the bank is close to securing a block of flats in Nene Wharf, Peterborough, and could start renting them out as soon as next month. It is understood there are nearly 50 flats in the block.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-9703757/Lloyds-big-bank-private-landlord.html

https://www.newhomesforsale.co.uk/new-homes/cambridgeshire/peterborough/nene-wharf/video/

Based on current assumptions, 2021 impairment expected to return closer to pre-pandemic levels.
2020 £4,247m
2019 £1,291m

Lloyds Banking Group has cancelled all staff bonuses for 2020 because of a sharp fall in profits caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a memo sent to staff on Thursday and seen by the Financial Times, Lloyds’ people and property director Matt Sinnott said the bank would not meet the minimum profit threshold to pay any “group performance share” awards.

https://www.ft.com/content/4fee06e8-56f6-489d-b292-ec03dfc121f3

Well placed to deliver for shareholders:
Well positioned for long-term superior and sustainable returns