LONDON — Shares in the troubled British lender Metro Bank bounced back by a third on Friday on reports that it has been sounding out bigger rivals to buy a chunk of its assets.
Metro Bank, which some analysts say may need to raise around 600 million pounds in capital to help it refinance debts, said it was looking at a range of options, including asset sales and the issuance of new shares. But it stressed that “no decision has been made on whether to proceed with any of these options."Gary Greenwood, an equity research analyst for Shore Capital Markets, suggested that the business could struggle to find backers for a potential fundraising exercise.
Metro Bank has 76 branches in Britain, which it terms as “stores.” It is one of the country's top 10 banks with around 2.7 million customers.SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The outer bands of Tropical Storm Philippe lashed Bermuda on Friday as it churned northward on a path toward Atlantic Canada and New England. The storm was located about 165 miles south of Bermuda on Friday morning. It had winds of up to 50 mph and was moving north-northeast at 18 mph .