Sectors: Financials

According to the latest survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), growth within the UK financial services sector is expected to level off in the next three months.

Despite the sector posting its best performance since the collapse of Northern Rock in September 2007 during the quarter to June, growth in Britain’s financial services industry has recently been slower than hoped for and sentiment in the sector has no doubt been negatively affected by the impact of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

Nevertheless, in a recent quizzing of financial services firms by the CBI, in which bosses were asked how their business volumes had held up over the three months to June, some 38 per cent said volumes had risen. At the same time, 29 per cent reported a decline, giving a resulting balance of plus nine per cent, which was the most positive result seen since 2007, albeit still much weaker than sector analysts had originally expected.

In terms of a breakdown, banks were the only sector to see business volumes decline during the quarter, whereas life insurers, finance houses and securities traders enjoyed healthy increases. Elsewhere, volumes for building societies and general insurers were largely flat.