Northern Rock returns to profit
By politics.co.uk staff
The bank whose collapse became an early indicator of the financial crisis has returned a profit for the first time since the downturn.
Northern Rock (Asset Management) made £349.7 million profit in the first half of 2010, compared to its £724.2 million loss during the same period last year.
The subsection of the bank, known among some analysts as the 'bad bank', was separated from the portion of the company the government hoped to sell, which received £10 billion of performing mortgages.
The 'bad bank' received risky assets to be run down over 20 years.
This year's profit comes from 90% of borrowers meeting their mortgage payments, due primarily to low interest payments.
The number of properties in possession fell to 1,846 compared with 2,061 in the end of last year.
