Mortgage lending jumps in June but volumes stay below pre-crisis levels August 11, 2010 HOME loan volumes picked up in June but still languished at about a third of their pre-financial crisis levels, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Banks and building societies extended £13.1bn of credit to housebuyers in June, an increase of 15 per cent on May’s figure and seven per cent up on the [...]
King ups the ante on bank lending to small firms August 11, 2010 MERVYN King again waded into the row over bank lending rates at the Bank of England’s inflation report meeting yesterday, accusing banks of profiting off struggling small businesses. “The spread that banks are making on loans is much, much higher than it was before and compared with the decade’s average,” he said. Unlike large businesses, [...]
Thomas Cook hit as Brits shun holidays August 11, 2010 TOUR operator Thomas Cook yesterday warned full-year operating profit would be at the lower end of forecasts after a slowdown in bookings as Britain’s emergency Budget forced holidaymakers into ditching their plans to go abroad. Europe’s second-biggest tour operator also said the impact from disruption caused by a volcanic ash cloud closing airspace in April [...]
Nestle ups outlook as business booms in emerging markets August 11, 2010 SWISS food giant Nestle raised its full-year outlook yesterday after buoyant demand for its strong brands in emerging markets boosted sales in the first half. The world’s biggest food group said its food and beverages business should show underlying sales growth of around five per cent. So far the group – whose brands include Nescafe [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN THOMAS COOK BOUNCE BACK? August 11, 2010 RICHARD HUNTER | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN While the news is disappointing and reflective of poor UK trading and prospects – quite apart from adverse currency movements having had an impact – there are positives, such as the dividend yield which is currently six per cent. Following these numbers, the current market consensus is that the shares [...]
Harris is JJB’s largest shareholder August 11, 2010 US investor Harris Associates has increased its stake in JJB Sports to 17.9 per cent, making it the biggest shareholder in the recovering sportswear retailer. Harris upped its stake to 116m shares from 104m over the last few days. Last week it raised its stake from 93m. The share-buying spree takes Harris Associates ahead of [...]
Flying Brand profit crashes August 11, 2010 Flower and gardening home shopping group Flying Brands today said its half-year, pre-tax profits slid 26 per cent to £1.4m but added that confidence about shoppers’ spending meant it was recommencing shareholder payouts. But the firm, which owns the floral delivery service Flying Flowers, still announced an interim dividend of 1.6p a share after it [...]
Deripaska eyes new IPO August 11, 2010 Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska is understood to be valuing his electricity producer EuroSibEnergo at around $8bn (£5.1bn) ahead of a planned Hong Kong IPO this autumn. The billionaire, who successfully listed aluminium giant Rusal on the same bourse in January, is currently marketing his power unit – formerly called En+ Power – to potential cornerstone [...]
RWE starts auction for German grid August 11, 2010 GERMANY’S RWE, Europe’s fifth-largest utility, said it has launched an auction process for the sale of its gas transmission network Thyssengas. RWE, which has to sell the business by March 2011 after settling an EU antitrust investigation, said it was expecting expressions of interest for the grid by 25 August. “We contacted potential investors from [...]
Tribal Group receives bid approaches August 11, 2010 TRIBAL Group, which provides government outsourcing services and coordinates school inspections, saw its shares leap yesterday after confirming it had been the subject of a slew of takeover approaches. The interest is thought to have come primarily from private equity companies, with Asia-focused New Silk Route (NSR) or larger rival Capita touted as potential buyers. [...]