Profit tumbles at retirement specialist McCarthy & Stone January 28, 2020 Profit at UK retirement home-builder McCarthy & Stone dropped sharply last year against the backdrop of “a challenging market” and costs related to a new strategy, the firm announced today. Shares in the company were up 0.5 per cent in morning trading at 154.6p, however, indicating that investors were anticipating weak results. The figures Profit [...]
Crest Nicholson blames Brexit uncertainty for profit plunge January 28, 2020 Crest Nicholson’s profit plunged 39 per cent to miss revised forecasts in a terrible year for the housebuilder, it said today. The figures Profit before tax sank from £168.7m in 2018 to £102.7m for the year ending in October. That missed guidance of between £120m and £130m, the result of last October’s profit warning. Profit [...]
Number of UK firms in ‘significant financial distress’ hits record high January 27, 2020 The number of UK businesses in significant financial distress has risen to almost 500,000, hitting the highest level since records began 16 years ago. The latest research showed that the number of firms facing significant difficulties has soared 81 per cent since 2016, reaching 494,000 in the fourth quarter of last year. Recently formed companies [...]
Ikebana: We tried out the Japanese art of ‘mindful’ flower arranging January 24, 2020 As Londoners wholeheartedly embrace houseplants, you might be trying to keep alive forests of greenery. But what about flowers? In our mindful age, flower arranging has finally come out of the shadows of the WI. It allows us to slow down and consider the fragrance, touch, colour and form of each stem as we design [...]
Property of the Week: A Wapping warehouse where WWI soldiers’ toothpaste was made January 24, 2020 Located halfway between Bank and Canary Wharf, Wapping’s waterside is a favourite location for the swanky riverside apartments of young financial services types. But dial back the clock a hundred years and it was a far grittier affair, the landscape dominated by bustling docks and factory chimneys. This penthouse that has just come on the [...]
Opinion: ‘Boris bounce’ made you want to sell your home? Do these three things first January 24, 2020 I view on average 500 properties per year, and have purchased homes for more than 300 clients. During the past 13 years I have seen some sellers get it right, and others pitch their homes horribly wrong. Sellers are feeling re-energised post-election, and with greater certainty around Brexit, we’ve seen a flurry of properties come [...]
Quintain secures £150m to build more Wembley homes January 23, 2020 Property developer Quintain is planning to build almost 400 new homes in Wembley after completing a £150m financing deal with Goldman Sachs. The funding will allow Quintain to construct 398 rental homes across three new buildings in Wembley Park, next to the Boxpark site. The development – due to be completed by May 2022 – [...]
Shopping centre owner New River ‘pleased’ with tenants’ Christmas trading January 22, 2020 Property landlord New River this morning said it was pleased with its tenants’ performance during the Christmas trading period despite a drop in footfall at its shopping centres. The real estate investment trust (REIT) said its top 15 tenants, which include Sainsbury’s, B&M, Primark, Next and Iceland, had reported a “robust” trading performance despite “challenging [...]
London’s rental growth hits four year high January 22, 2020 London’s rental growth hit a four year high last year as the number of properties available for tenants plummeted, according to the latest research. Rents in the capital rose at 2.8 per cent in 2019 – the highest rate for almost four years – as the available supply of homes has plummeted 20 per cent [...]
Investment drives growth for Apex Hotels January 21, 2020 Apex Hotels reported that profit soared in its last financial year following increased investment at its hotels in London and Edinburgh. Profit after tax for the year to 30 April was £9.4m up 51.6 per cent from £6.2m in 2018, on increased turnover of £75.5m, up from £68.9m. The number of rooms sold rose 5.5 [...]