Crypto News: The London Rush: A (British) bank is born

Hi, I'm Leo from Bloomberg UK's breaking news team, catching you up on this morning's business stories.

It's one of the busiest mornings this earnings season, but one surprise announcement really stands out in the City:

London-based fintech Revolut — created in 2015 to offer cheap foreign exchange — finally secured a UK banking licence.

It's a vital step for the firm, whose co-founder Nik Storonsky hasn't held back his criticism of the British regulators during Revolut's three-year wait for a nod. The company was given the permit with some restrictions, allowing it to enter the "mobilisation" stage.

A full license will soon enable Revolut to provide overdrafts, loans and savings products to its more than 9 million UK customers — joining the likes of Monzo, Starling and Atom.

Crucially, the licence also means customer accounts will be covered by the UK's financial services compensation scheme, which protects customer deposits of as much as £85,000 if a business goes bust.

The news should prove very timely for another reason: Revolut is in talks about a share sale, which could value it at more than $40 billion — and make it worth more than the likes of Standard Chartered and NatWest.

What's your take? Ping me on X, LinkedIn or drop me an email at lkehnscherpe@bloomberg.net. Oh, and do subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted business journalism on the UK, and beyond.

Lloyds' profit beat expectations as an improved economic outlook allowed Britain's biggest mortgage lender to whittle down the amount of money it sets aside for souring loans.

Vodafone's revenue also came in ahead of analyst predictions, with strong growth in Africa. That offset a decline in Germany, Vodafone's biggest market, where a recent law change is starting to bite.

British American Tobacco said it's unlikely to hit a £5 billion revenue target in 2025 for vapes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, blaming the lack of a clampdown on illegal single-use products in the US.

Unilever shares gained 6% at the open after the Dove soap maker stuck with its sales growth guidance. Revenue so far this year had been tempered by falling prices in India and Indonesian shoppers boycotting western brands over the war in Gaza.

And AstraZeneca raised its annual profit and sales forecast amid higher demand for blockbuster cancer drugs.

Biden says time for "younger voices" in Oval Office speech.
China unexpectedly cuts one-year policy rate by most since 2020.
Olympic athletes are going high-tech to beat extreme heat.

Here's your daily snap analysis from Bloomberg UK's Markets Today blog:

Restaurant operator Mitchells & Butlers said today it was "very confident" of meeting full year expectations, even as it announced slower sales growth in the third quarter.

The issues raised in the firm's statement actually provides a handy list of the big topics impacting UK firms this season.

It noted the sales slowdown "reflects the movement of Easter into our fiscal first half this year, coupled with a progressive easing of the inflationary environment, through a period of generally wet weather." Meanwhile it added it would still see cost headwinds from "increases in labour costs due to the statutory National Living Wage rise mitigated in part by deflation in our energy costs (which are now substantially all bought forward for the year), slowing food cost inflation and strong cost control at site level."

So that's the wet weather, early Easter, wage hikes, easing energy costs and lower food inflation all ticked off. Just missing a reference to the Euros (which ITV and Young's lauded as a positive impact today) to complete the summer 2024 bingo card.

— David Goodman

Check Bloomberg UK's Markets Today blog for updates all day.

High-street lender NatWest, property portal Rightmove and asset manager Jupiter will round out the earnings week tomorrow.

Paris, unsurprisingly, is bang on trend.

Hey, it's Sarah from Pursuits. Paris has made headlines recently by cleaning up the Seine. It is now so clean that the open water swimmers will compete in it during the Olympics, which opens this weekend. Soon (some time next year) the general public will be able to swim there -- I'm not sure I'm quite brave enough for that.

But if, like our reporter in Paris, Jenny Che, that appeals, then you don't need to take the Eurostar to find an invigorating dip. Despite all the bad news about the state of our own waterways, wild swimming has been on the rise in the UK recently, especially when (/if!) the weather improves.

One of the most popular spots is on Hampstead Heath, which has three ponds and a lido operated by the City of London. Or if you're looking for something more central, then consider the Serpentine, which was the location of London's open water swimming event in 2012.

Of course, the sea is always a good option, but if the rough and tumble of the waves puts you off, then a tidal pool makes for a more sheltered dip. One of the best is in Margate, which is a quick train journey from London and full of trendy cafes and restaurants for after.

For those of you who studied history (and now presumably discounted cash flow models):

Edinburgh's signature stacked apartments are wildly popular. They originate from the Georgian era. Name a year that falls into that period.

Tip: The Georgian era spans over 100 years.

Photographer: elzauer/Moment RF

[Yesterday's answer: Harland & Wolff owns the shipyard that built the Titanic.]

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