Banco Santander’s decision to cut its British branch opening hours strikes a gloomy opening note for the banks’ first-quarter bulletins this week.
The past four years have been a time to forget for bank shares and inflation, recession and Ukraine have made it a miserable start to this year. Santander, based in Spain but with a London quote, has fallen more than most since 2018, from 507p to 262¼p.
Banks thrive on economic activity, because that promotes borrowing. But, as David Smith pointed out in his Sunday Times column, “the world economy has lost its mojo”. The International Monetary Fund has cut its January prediction of 4.4 per cent global growth this year to 3.6 per cent. Advanced economies are expected to grow only 3.3
