Travelex buys Turkish outfit March 31, 2014 FOREIGN exchange firm Travelex yesterday moved into Turkey with the acquisition of Turkish company Arti Doviz. It is the first time a foreign money exchange operator has entered the Turkish market. The deal will give Travelex, which is exploring plans for a listing on the London Stock Exchange, five stores at Ataturk International Airport in [...]
Burford starts to reap rewards as earnings rise higher again March 31, 2014 BURFORD Capital, the litigation finance firm chaired by former Barclays chair Sir Peter Middleton, yesterday said surging investment returns helped deliver better profits last year. The group, which primarily provides financial funding for litigation, said pre-tax profits rose 25 per cent for the year ending December 2013 to $42.5m. “We’ve hit a point in our [...]
Bottom Line: Royal Mail proves markets trump politics March 31, 2014 ON ITS first day as a listed company in February, shares in AO.com rose by 33 per cent. Three weeks later, Poundland followed suit; jumping 23 per cent on its debut and making millionaires of several of its senior managers. Other players in London’s recent initial public offering (IPO) boom haven’t fared so well; Just [...]
Shock February drop in lending for mortgages March 31, 2014 MORTGAGE lending dipped during February, according to surprising official figures from the Bank of Lending, marking the first monthly drop in a year. There were 70,309 mortgages approved by financial institutions in February, down by more than 6,000 from January’s figure, which was the highest in six years, going back to the onset of the [...]
Domestic buyers return to prime central London property market March 31, 2014 UK BUYERS accounted for almost half of property sales in London’s prime postcodes last year as investors regained their confidence that Britain’s economy is on the move. The boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster recorded 49 per cent of property sales to domestic buyers in 2013, according to data out yesterday from estate agents [...]
Housebuilder McCarthy & Stone to splash £1.5bn as sales jump March 31, 2014 RETIREMENT home-builder McCarthy & Stone is planning a £1.5bn investment splurge on land after revealing a sharp increase in its revenues. The company said yesterday that sales were up 49 per cent to £149.7m in the year to 28 February, with net profit swinging back into the black. Net profit came in at £11.5m, reversing [...]
Network Rail totting up cost of flood defence March 31, 2014 NETWORK Rail has set out its £38bn upgrade plans for the next five years, though new boss Mark Carne underlined the difficulty of cutting running costs while keeping Britain’s railways in shape. Carne and his team are totting up how much more money they will need to protect the railways against the weather, following the [...]
Boohoo.com shares hit new low despite 62 per cent leap in sales March 31, 2014 SHARES in Boohoo.com fell briefly below their offer price yesterday for the first time since their market debut, despite the online fashion retailer reporting a jump in full-year revenues. The Manchester-based company had its first day of trading on 14 March and saw shares open at 85p – well above the offer price of 50p. [...]
Allan Leighton to join cast of Peppa Pig March 31, 2014 PEPPA Pig owner and television distributor Entertainment One yesterday appointed former Asda chief exec Allan Leighton as chairman, in a move rumoured since September. Leighton also serves as chairman of set-top box maker Pace and was formerly chairman of the Royal Mail. James Corsellis will step down as Entertainment One’s chairman today.
Fool or fact: Can you spot these 1 April hoaxes? March 31, 2014 HAPPY April Fools’ day folks – the day the public is invited to fall for spurious headlines like teenagers fall for One Direction’s Harry Styles. And indeed, today’s news is littered with eyebrow raising stories. But which of them are sincere and which are a sham? We’ll give you the stories, you guess fool or [...]