Santander closes over 100 UK branches; lens on 3 financial stocks

3 min read | March 26, 2021 02:19 AM AEDT | By Abhijeet

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Santander closes over 100 UK branches; lens on 3 financial stocks

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Summary

Spanish banking behemoth Santander Group to shut more than 100 UK branches.

The company would shift its head office to Milton Keynes.

Spanish banking behemoth Santander Group has announced that it would permanently close more than 100 UK branches owing to changing customer preferences due to pandemic. This would leave the company with a network of 452 branches. The company said it would shut its regional offices and shift its head office to Milton Keynes. The closure of branches will happen by August end.

The company said it decided to shut regional offices after branch usage dropped 50 per cent in 2020. Branch transactions dropped by a third in the two years preceding the pandemic. The closure would be impacting 5,000 employees. The company said it was consulting with trade unions and would find new roles for a significant number of people.

Adam Bishop, the group’s head of branches, said that since branch users have fallen in the last few years, the company decided to consolidate its presence in areas having several branches in proximity.

For FY2020, the company’s underlying profit from UK operations fell by 50 per cent to €530 million. The company had also said the recovery in the fourth quarter was 18.5 per cent compared to the third quarter.

Here are three banking and financial stocks that have over 5 per cent dividend yield.

Draper Esprit Plc (LON:GROW)

The venture capital firm has a dividend yield of 5.39 per cent. For the six months ended 30 September 2020, the firm’s profit after tax fell to £54 million from £59 million in the same period a year ago. Net asset value per share increased to 600 pence from 555 pence on 31 March 2020.

CEO Martin Davis said that the company expected to build on the strong performance in the first half to reward investors further. The shares of the company were trading at GBX 849, down by 0.24 per cent, at 11:31 GMT+1.

(Source: EODHD/Others, Thomson Reuters)

Orchard Funding Group Plc (LON:ORCH)

The finance company with a dividend yield of 5.71 per cent saw its profit plunge 41.25 per cent for the six months ended 31 January 2021 to £0.47 million from £0.80 million in the same period a year ago. Its total revenue decreased 19.41 per cent to £2.31 million from £2.86 million.

The fund’s CEO Ravi Takhar said that the company’s existing book is resilient despite the credit conditions presently because the fund benefits from short-term lending instruments.

(Source: EODHD/Others, Thomson Reuters)

The shares of the company were trading at GBX 52, down by 2.78 per cent on 25 March at 11:46 GMT+1.

Axiom European Financial Debt Fund (LON:AXI)

The portfolio management company with a dividend yield of 6.70 per cent saw its profit for FY20 drop to £1.6 million from £14 million a year ago. Its dividend declared for the year remained unchanged at 6 pence. Its net assets dropped to £87.4 million from £91.3 million a year ago.

The fund’s chairman William Scott said that despite uncertainties, the company’s portfolio remained well-positioned and that it would be able to capitalise on the opportunities offered by a recovering market.

(Source: EODHD/Others, Thomson Reuters)

The shares of the company were trading at GBX 89.5 on 25 March at 12:10 GMT+1, the same as previous close.

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