Profits halved at UK mortgage lender

British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley said today that profits virtually halved last year after an "eventful and difficult" period for the banking sector.

A host of write-downs, including £142.1m (€191m) on investments hit by the credit crunch, left the firm with pre-tax profits of £126m (€169.4m) - 49% below 2006.