Daily Mail

£11bn profit in Rock rescue... by about 2027

- By James Salmon

TAXPAYERS are in line for an £11bn profit from the bailout of Northern Rock – but could have to wait another 15 years to get it.

That was the verdict of a report published yesterday by UKFI, which manages the country’s stake in banks that are propped up by the public coffers.

The government-backed organisati­on said the country could eventually recoup between £46bn and £48bn. Just under £37bn has been pumped into the Newcastle-based Northern Rock since its collapse in 2007, meaning taxpayers could be in line for a profit of about £11bn.

But Labour dismissed the report as a ‘rose tinted’ attempt by the Government to justify its cut-price sale of Northern Rock’s core business to Virgin Money earlier this year. Chris Leslie MP, Labour’s shadow Treasury minister, said: ‘The sale of Northern Rock at a huge loss represents scandalous­ly poor value for taxpayers’ money.

‘While UKFI as a government body may view this process through rose-tinted spectacles, the virtual giveaway of this asset to Virgin Money needs a full and independen­t appraisal.’

Northern Rock was fully nationalis­ed in 2008 after falling to its knees during the credit crunch. The bank was split splits into the ‘good’ – or core – bank, Northern Rock, while Northern Rock (Asset Management) held all the bad loans and mortgages.

Sir Richard Branson is widely thought to have scooped a bargain at the expense of taxpayers. He snapped up the core bank for between £747m and £1bn – representi­ng a loss on the £1.4bn spent to stop it collapsing. ÷ COMPARISON website Moneysuper­market more than doubled its profits last year to £24.3m as customers surfed the web for cheaper deals.

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