Royal Bank of Scotland’s bad debt provisions increased almost tenfold in the first quarter, as the lender braced for a steep increase in business customers running into difficulties, the Financial Times reported. The bank, which is majority-owned by the UK government, put aside £802m to deal with an expected increase in defaults, compared with £86m in the first quarter of last year. As a result, net profit tumbled 59 per cent to £288m.

Over a fifth of the U.K.’s listed companies issued a profit warning in the first quarter of 2020, compared with 17% in the full year of 2008, according to a report by consultants EY, Bloomberg News reported. The economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed up the number of profit warnings in the U.K., with 301 issued in the quarter ending March 31, almost as many as the whole of the previous year, the report stated.

British commodities tycoon Sanjeev Gupta’s family business has decided to close its loss-making Commonwealth Trade Bank Ltd after failing to revive the business, it said on Friday, Reuters reported. Gupta’s privately-held GFG Alliance, with revenues of over $20 billion, has a wide range of businesses, largely in commodities such as steel and aluminium, but also spanning energy, infrastructure and finance.

Banks are to be given assurances by the UK government over the legal and regulatory framework around new small business loans, but industry executives are seeking clarity over how to act if the scheme results in high levels of default or fraud, the Financial Times reported. The government is locked in talks with banks over the final details of the scheme with just four days to go until it is launched. Under the bounce back scheme, banks will offer interest and payment free loans of up to £50,000 to small businesses that are entirely guaranteed by the government.

Finablr Plc, the embattled owner of two foreign-exchange businesses, uncovered about $1 billion of debt hidden from its board that may have been used for purposes outside of the company, compounding a scandal that pushed its sister firm NMC Health Plc into administration, Bloomberg News reported. The London-listed company and its creditors found that Finablr Group’s overall debt was about $1.3 billion, excluding the debt of its Travelex Holdings Ltd. unit and “materially above” its last reported figure, according to a statement.

Barclays has announced a sharp increase in provisions for bad loans, becoming the latest bank to prepare for a wave of defaults from retail and corporate customers as the coronavirus crisis upends the global economy, the Financial Times reported. First-quarter credit impairment charges surged almost fivefold to £2.1bn from £448m in the same period last year, more than double the £923m analysts had forecast, the London-based bank said on Wednesday.

HSBC Holdings Plc and Banco Santander SA took the biggest hits so far among European banks struggling to contain the impact of the coronavirus on their loan books, with the U.K.-based lender expecting as much as $11 billion of damage this year because of the outbreak, Bloomberg News reported.

Bondholders to U.K. discount retailer Matalan have hired advisers as the company draws up plans to raise additional funding to cope with the impact of the coronavirus lockdown, Bloomberg News reported. Creditors will work with financial adviser Perella Weinberg Partners Group LP and law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP in the coming weeks, Matalan said in a statement Monday. The retailer said it’s too early to specify the amount of funding required but guided that 60 million pounds ($74 million) could be sufficient to help the business get back on its feet.

Problem loans at some of Standard Chartered Plc’s large clients may top $600 million as a string of corporate scandals coincides with woes at firms hit by the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. NMC Health Plc, the hospital operator that’s uncovered evidence of fraud, and Hin Leong Trading (Pte.), the Singaporean trading house being investigated by police, represent nearly $500 million of lending for Standard Chartered, according to public filings. Separately, a South African farm bank that the London-based company lends to has defaulted on some of its debt.

Virgin Atlantic is still talking with the British government about a bailout package to cope with the devastating effects of the coronavirus outbreak on travel as well as focusing on private sector funding, a company spokeswoman told Reuters. The comments came after the Sunday Telegraph reported here that founder Richard Branson was seeking a buyer for the airline and had set a May-end deadline for a sale, and that talks with the government for a 500 million pound ($618.35 million) bailout package had been "effectively shelved,” Reuters reported.