The Telegraph: Brexit ‘makes investors wary of UK banks’

22 October 2018

Investors have become more pessimistic about the prospects for UK banks, analysts at UBS have warned.

A survey of City money managers by the Swiss bank found more than two thirds (67pc) of respondents were now very bearish or bearish on the market outlook for Britain’s biggest high-street bank, Lloyds, and 40pc saw a negative outlook for rival HSBC, which generates most of its revenues and profits overseas, primarily from Asia.

UBS said the discrepancy reflected a more pessimistic view of UK economic prospects due to the “political and economic risks around Brexit”.

Investors are wary that a disorderly Brexit could lead to a shock to the UK economy, which in turn could damage domestic banks’ finances if there were a spike in bad loans or a slowdown in the housing market.

The UBS report comes ahead of a flurry of third-quarter trading updates from UK banks over the next fortnight, including Barclays, Lloyds, RBS, and HSBC. [...]

Full article on The Telegraph


© The Telegraph