Britain's banks, born to empire, have seldom sailed such favourable winds. Most are likely to report record earnings for 2005, helped by expansion abroad, healthy corporate demand for loans and a resurgence in mortgage borrowing at home. And the outlook is good, too. Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, forecasts an 11% rise in after-tax earnings for 2006. But there are also some worrying signs of trouble ahead. Barclays, Britain's third-largest bank, said this week that its bad-debt provisions had jumped by 44% last year as more credit-card borrowers missed payments on ever-larger debts.
展开▼
