A&L profits almost wiped out by credit crunch

Alliance & Leicester today said the credit crunch turmoil had almost completely wiped out profits in the first six months of the year.

The bank, which has agreed a £1.26bn (€1.6bn) sale to Abbey’s Spanish banking parent Santander, reported interim pre-tax profits of £2m (€2.54m), down from £290m (€369m).