HBOS Calls It A Day On 53 Estate Agency Branches
News that HBOS has closed down 53 of its Halifax estate agency branches was not totally unexpected but may not be the last of the closures. The move has resulted in 100 job losses with news that elsewhere in the group 450 employees have been relocated to different areas of the company. While this news is still being digested it also seems as though HBOS will consider 'selective asset disposals' in order to stop the haemorrhaging of cash the group has seen over the last few months.
Profits for the group have been slashed and business looks as though it will get worse before it improves. As the Halifax area of the group has massive exposure to the housing market this is an area which has felt the brunt of the recent changes.
For the last 20 years the main UK banks have enjoyed a relatively untroubled period of expansion which has seen them buy in exposure from all corners of the globe. However, it is only just not that we are seeing the underlying strength or weakness of these acquisitions. The HBOS which we see before us today will be a very different animal by the time the economy bounces back.
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