HBOS to raise new capital

| 29 April 2008 08:41

As I predicted on Saturday, HBOS has got caught up in the global mortgage meltdown. Bloomberg reports:

HBOS Plc, the U.K.’s biggest mortgage lender, will sell 4 billion pounds ($8 billion) of shares to bolster capital depleted by asset writedowns and a deteriorating housing market.

As the UK housing market has only begun to turn down and the Halifax (which represents the H in HBOS) is the largest mortgage lender in the UK, you can expect a lot more of this in the months ahead. In the face of similar headwinds, many U.S. banks have cut the dividend. Will British banks follow their lead?

Read the Bloomberg article here.

See also: Credit Crisis Timeline for a full list of writedowns and capital raising by institution and a timeline of the credit crunch.

avatar About Edward Harrison

Edward Harrison is the founder of Credit Writedowns and a former career diplomat, investment banker and technology executive with over twenty years of business experience. He is also a regular economic and financial commentator on BBC World News, CNBC Television, Business News Network, CBC, Fox Television and RT Television. He speaks six languages, a skill he uses to provide a more global perspective. Edward holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University and a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College.

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