Britain's top four banks set to double profits - raking in £1,660 per second

05 November 2023 , 11:00

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Big banks are still raking in profits (Image: Getty Images)

Britain’s top four banks are set to DOUBLE their profits year on year – which means they are poised to rake in the equivalent of about £1,660 per second.

And that is because their bumper bottom lines have been turbo-charged by sky-high mortgage rates following Tory budget blunders. By the end of September, the so-called Big Four – NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds and Barclays – had combined profits almost topping £40billion, according to analysis of the banks’ public accounts by Unite.

And the union predicts that the giants’ combined annual profits for 2023 will hit more than £52bn – over DOUBLE last year’s near-£23bn. Meanwhile, ordinary families are a lot worse off because of hikes in home loan repayments since the disastrous mini-Budget under Rishi Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss.

Lloyds boss Charlie Nunn (PA)

Last night, Sharon Graham, leader of Unite – which projected the profit figures based on figures for 2023 so far – said: “It’s out-of-control profiteering. While everyday people pay the price, senior city bankers look forward to uncapped bonuses. It’s high time our policy makers and politicians stood up to corporate Britain and put a stop to this runaway profiteering.”

Even before the PM axed the City bonus cap last month, the average London banker landed as much as £120,000 in annual bonuses – seven times the average pay for a care worker. But the top bosses had already hit the salary jackpot with personal pay packages totalling almost £20million last year shared out among the Big Four’s chiefs. They were:

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• NatWest Group’s now ousted chief executive Alison Rose, who took home £5.2m –up 46% on 2021.
• HSBC head Noel Quinn, who netted £5.6m, a 14% hike.
• Barclays boss CS Venkatakrishnan – who we revealed enjoying a lavish jaunt at Wimbledon in the summer – was handed £5.2m.
• Poorest was Lloyds’ Charlie Nunn, who got £3.8m.

HSBC Chief Noel Quinn (Roger Harris)

Nat West ex-chief Alison Rose (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Problems have spiralled since Ms Truss and then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwateng’s car-crash mini-Budget, including tax cuts costing £30bn. The plan tanked the economy and led to interest rates hitting a 15-year high of 5% – adding £223 a week to the average family’s mortgage.

It has forced around 3,400 households to remortgage every day since May this year. Debt charity Christians Against Poverty found nearly one in four homeowners could not afford an unexpected £200 bill. And Debt Justice has warned 12.8 million adults are falling behind on bills or finding their repayments a heavy burden.

Luke Hilyard, who heads up economic inequality think-tank The High Pay Centre, said: “There’s nothing inevitable about this. While politicians waffle on about AI and technology, they could be raising living standards by making businesses share their profits with ordinary workers and pass on gigantic windfalls to their customers.”

Barclays boss C.S. Venkatarishnan (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Shadow Business Minister Justin Madders added: “The Tories’ mismanagement of the economy has piled on the agony for millions of homeowners hammered with higher mortgage payments. And despite all their tough talk, the banks have passed on interest rate rises far faster to borrowers than to savers – making a tidy profit. This shows they cannot be trusted to stand up for ordinary people.”

Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney added: “This is a mess entirely of Liz Truss and numerous Tory chancellors’ making. The public is watching big banks making eye-watering profits, all while mortgage bills spiral. The whole thing stinks. It’s time the Government helped families who can’t afford whopping mortgage bills.” A Government spokesman said: “UK banks are already responding to the Chancellor’s demands and handing over more of the benefits of interest rate rises than European and US counterparts.”

HSBC said: “We’re focused on supporting customers with a broad range of savings accounts to offer them a choice on how they manage their money, including our one-year 5.3% fixed rate saver” NatWest would not comment. Lloyds, Barclays and the Bank of England were approached. The Bank of England interest rate is now 5.25%.

John Siddle