10% – HSBC posted a pre-tax pre-tax profit of £8.7 billion for the first six months of the year, 10% up from £7.9 billion in the same period a year earlier.
77 – The number of months that the base rate is being held at a record low of 0.5%.
£14 billion – The Government has raised almost £14 billion from the sale of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group after selling a further 1% of its holding.
£2.1 billion – The amount the Government will net from selling its 5.2% holding in Royal Bank Of Scotland.
5 months – House prices fell in July for the first time in five months 0.6% to £198,883 says Halifax.
0.3% – The Bank of England has halved its forecast for inflation for 2015 from 0.6% to 0.3% on the back of falling oil prices and the strength of sterling.
Rogues corner….
£115,000 – London mortgage broker Asim Hussein, who lied about his companies profits to evade £115,000 in corporation tax, has been found guilty of tax and mortgage fraud.
14 years – Former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes has been found guilty of eight counts of conspiring to rig LIBOR and has been handed 14 years in jail.
