Primary Health Properties launches £120m equity raising to fund buying spree March 22, 2016 Primary Health Properties (PHP) has launched a £120m equity raising to help pay down debt and increase its war chest for healthcare property acquisitions. The listed-company will issue of up to 120m shares at a discounted price of 100p a share compared with yesterday's closing price of 110.50p. It can also decided to increase the size of the Issue [...]
Bellway’s share price rises as profits smash expectations March 22, 2016 Bellway shares rose 3.6 per cent in morning trading after the UK housebuilder beat analyst expectations, reporting a near 43 per cent jump in profits to £226.6m in the first half to 31 January. The family-owned group's better-than-expected profits was largely due to its operating margin, which came in at 21.4 per cent compared with 19.9 per cent the same [...]
Majestic-owned Naked Wines raises glass to record £100m sales March 22, 2016 It has been a challenging year for Majestic Wine with a lack of good news to toast to. However, the company had reason to cheer today after announcing that its younger crowdfunding business Naked Wines has hit a milestone £100m of sales. Majestic bought Naked Wines for £70m in April last year to help boost its online presence [...]
John Lewis Partnership hires British Airways boss Keith Williams as new deputy chairman March 22, 2016 The John Lewis Partnership has appointed British Airways' outgoing boss Keith Williams to take over Mark Price as its new deputy chairman. Williams is already a member of the Partnership board after joining in March 2014 and will succeed Price on 4 April, who is leaving his dual role as deputy chairman and Waitrose managing director to take up [...]
Supermarkets reap over £1bn of property investment in 2015 as new buyers pile in March 22, 2016 Britain's supermarket sector attracted over £1bn of property investment last year as investors shrugged off the price wars and and went in search of stable returns. Research released today by Colliers International and data analytics provider MSCI revealed that deal volumes reached £1.4bn in 2015, up slightly on the previous year but down on the record [...]
House prices: volatile equity markets and Brexit fears are hurting prime global rents, says Knight Frank March 21, 2016 Volatile equity markets and economic weakness in emerging markets dragged rental prices for high-end homes in key global cities lower last year, new research shows. Knight Frank's prime global rental index, which tracks the change in luxury residential rents across 17 cities globally, fell by 1.1 per cent in 2015, down from growth of 2.5 per cent in 2014. Geneva replaced Moscow as the [...]
Housebuilder Inland Homes posts record half-year profits as average prices rise March 21, 2016 Shares in Inland Homes edged higher today after the housebuilder and regeneration specialist posted a jump in half-year profits. The Aim-listed company, which buys and develops brownfield land in the south and south-east, posted a 274.4 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £21.5m in the six months to the end of December, boosted by a £14m revaluation [...]
Jack Wills secures extra £10m funding as its embarks on a store opening spree March 21, 2016 Jack Wills has secured an extra £10m of funding from its lenders as it looks to add another 10 stores to its clothing empire this year. The preppy fashion chain, which counts Prince Harry among its fans, said HSBC has agreed to increase its revolving credit facility to £30m for the rest of 2016 to help support its expansion. [...]
Fashion retailer New Look to move 800 staff to new London headquarters at King’s Cross March 21, 2016 New Look is moving 800 staff to new headquarters at King’s Cross after signing up for seven floors on the 67-acre regeneration site. The fashion retailer, which was bought last year by South African billionaire Christo Wiese, has taken a lease for 123,000 square feet of space in building R7 on Handyside Street on the north-eastern part of the site. It [...]
Halfords and N Brown share price drops after UBS downgrade, blaming Brexit, Amazon and currency woes March 21, 2016 Shares in Halfords and N Brown have dropped sharply today after analysts at UBS slashed their ratings for both retailers in a bearish note on the sector. The Swiss bank's research arm, UBS Evidence Lab, has warned of on a whole shopping basket of challenges facing retailers this year, including short-term uncertainty over Brexit, wage inflation, currency and the increasing dominance of Amazon. [...]