Yorkshire Bank group boss defends Williams & Glyn bid

THE boss of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks has defended the group’s bid for the 314-branch Williams & Glyn bank network.

Following the announcement in October that CYBG had signed a non-binding agreement for the bank, critics pounced on what they saw as an “overambitious” deal for the newly-divested group.

At an analysts’ call following the announcement this morning that independent CYBG turned its first pre-tax profits in five years, David Duffy, CEO of the group, said the critics of the bid were “misinformed”.

According to The Telegraph, Mr Duffy said: “When I look at the market there seems to be commentators who are ill-informed and perhaps negative and then there’s our investors.

“And how would you characterise our investors? They are the people who have our share price at the level it is.”

RBS is being forced to sell Williams & Glyn as a condition of its £45bn bailout during the recession. It has turned into a seven-year process after £1.4bn efforts to make it an independent bank failed.

If RBS boss Ross McEwan misses the sales deadline of the end of 2017, then the sale process will be taken over by Brussels.

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close