The bank reporting season finally caught alight today when investors baulked at the £144 million bad debt provisions made at Virgin Money. Otherwise it has been a dreadfully dull affair.
All the big-name lenders came in with first-quarter profits around or ahead of expectations with little in the way of warnings to frighten the horses about the rest of the year.
Considering that quarter included a prolonged cost of living crisis, two rate rises and the collapse of major banks in America and Switzerland that some rune readers thought could trigger global financial meltdown 2.0, that is pretty encouraging.
Britain’s banking sector has come a long way since one of its leading bosses could revel in the nickname ‘The Shred’ and manage assets as big as the entire UK economy.
Its high command are cautious sobersides compared with the more flamboyant characters who drove it on to the rocks in 2008. That is how it should be.
There’s always room for risk-addicted chancers in business but probably not in the boardrooms of the High Street lenders.
Mark Carney’s role should not be forgotten. He was at the helm of the Bank of England when the endless balance-sheet bolstering and stress testing was put in place to ensure Britain’s banking industry is so much more robust than it was 15 years ago.
So far the tremors in the global financial system have been barely felt in the UK — excepting the rescue of SVB UK. There may yet be aftershocks but it appears the likes of Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest and Santander are well placed to withstand them intact.
