Energy bills: Big six firms slammed for overcharging customers January 15, 2016 The energy regulator, Ofgem, has slammed the UK's "big six" energy companies for failing to pass on cheaper wholesale costs to customers. Dermot Nolan, the the head of Ofgem, said wholesale energy costs have fallen by about a third in the last 12 to 18 months. Despite this, the big six energy companies – British Gas, Npower, [...]
Generation Rent is fleeing London as housing costs soar January 15, 2016 Is London bracing for a mass exodus of millennials? The capital’s exorbitant housing costs are hardly news, but a new survey suggests that the situation is getting so bad that more than 80 per cent of London’s twenty-somethings may be sent packing to other parts of the UK. At £1,507, the average monthly rent for [...]
Prudential Regulation Authority bans former Co-operative Bank bosses from the City for life and fines them more than £250,000 January 15, 2016 The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has banned two former Co-operative Bank bosses from holding senior City positions and slapped them with fines of more than £250,000 over failings when they were running the bank. In a statement today, the PRA said it had banned former chief executive Barry Tootell and Keith Alderson, the former managing [...]
UK property prices: Average cost of house has risen by 300 pc to over £680,000 in two decades – Savills January 15, 2016 The average house price in the UK has risen by 300 per cent and is now almost £200,000 higher than it was 20 years ago, according to upmarket estate agent Savills. The country's most expensive areas have seen an even steeper 538 per cent increase in the average house price from £108,032 to £689,649, found [...]
UK Construction output suffered its biggest annual drop since 2013 adding to disappointing economic data January 15, 2016 Construction output suffered its biggest annual drop since 2013 in November, adding to a string of disappointing data which suggests the UK economy is struggling to recover from a mid-year slowdown. Construction output fell 0.5 per cent in the month to November, data from the Office for National Statistics has shown, missing economists' expectations for a [...]
Reactions to BT-EE merger: Telco rivals TalkTalk and Vodafone lash out after Competition and Markets Authority waves through £12.5bn merger deal January 15, 2016 Telco rivals have lashed out furiously, after the UK’s competition watchdog waved through BT and EE’s £12.5bn merger, which was given the final green light early this morning. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the takeover was unlikely to cause “significant harm to competition or the interests of consumers” as the UK mobile market is so [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil prices dip back below $30 January 15, 2016 Brent crude oil dipped back below the $30 per barrel mark today, as the prospect of more Iranian oil looms over an already oversupplied market. Brent crude, the global benchmark, shed 3.5 per cent to $29.89 per barrel this morning. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the US benchmark, shed 5.05 per cent to $29.62. "It was [...]
UK house prices: Bovis Homes share price rises as it posts record profit January 15, 2016 Housebuilder Bovis Homes has ended the week on a high, with the announcement it made a record profit in 2015. Not surprisingly, the news sent shares up. The figures In a statement posted this morning, Bovis said it delivered 3,934 homes in 2015, eight per cent higher than in 2014. Average selling price increased seven per cent to £231,000. Private reservations increased by 10 per [...]
Chinese economy: Chinese markets including Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite fall on oil price volatility with knock-on effect for Nikkei, Hang Seng, ASX January 15, 2016 Here we go again. After some sense volatility had subsided (even a little) in Chinese markets in morning trading, the Shanghai Composite tumbled in the afternoon, leading Asian markets into the red. Volatility in oil prices contributed to a late spell of sell-offs in China, leading the Shanghai Composite to finish 3.55 per cent lower at 2,900 points in [...]
Big Four fight back: Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco report rising sales after years of stagnation January 15, 2016 Tesco became the third supermarket to reveal better-than expected Christmas results yesterday, in the clearest sign yet that the industry is staging a successful fightback against German discounters Aldi and Lidl. The so-called big four – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – have been battling to respond to changing shopping habits and reverse the tide [...]