British banks brace for losses

Downtrend: A HSBC Holdings Plc bank branch in London. Shares in the bank have plunged to their lowest levels in 11 years. — Bloomberg

LONDON: Britain’s banks took a gloomier view than almost all their European peers in their second quarter earnings, as coronavirus fears, Brexit and low interest rates caused them to bake tougher “worst-case” scenarios into their risk models.

Investors had expected a torrid set of half-year results, but Barclays, Standard Chartered, Lloyds, NatWest Group and HSBC fell short of these low expectations.