UK services sector returns to growth in October as business activity jumps November 4, 2015 A bit of good news for those in the UK's dominant services sector: the sector bounced back in October, after a disappointing September. The Markit/CIPS services business activity sector rose to 54.9 in October, above the consensus of 54.5, way above the 50 point which denotes expansion, and up from the disappointing reading of 53.3 [...]
Countrywide shares are getting hammered after warning on profits November 4, 2015 Countrywide’s share price is getting hammered, leading the losers on the FTSE 250, after having warned on profits. The company’s share price was down 12.70 per cent in mid-morning trading after the announcement. Read more: Countrywide shares slump after housing market slowdown Shares in Britain's biggest lettings and estate agency Countrywide have plunged more than [...]
Countrywide blames housing market slowdown for profits warning as shares plunge November 4, 2015 Shares in Britain's biggest lettings and estate agency Countrywide have plunged more than 12 per cent this morning after the company issued a shock profits warning, blaming a slowdown in the housing market. The company, which owns estate agencies including Hamptons, Blundells and John D Wood, despite generally encouraging economic conditions, the pick-up in residential transactions it had anticipated following the [...]
Worldpay upgraded to “BB” rating after successful IPO November 4, 2015 Worldpay has been upgraded by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s after successfully completing its IPO. The British payments processor was the biggest London float of 2015 by far, when it listed on 13 October with an offer of 240p per share, giving it a market cap of £4.8bn. Since then, Worldpay stocks have climbed to [...]
Price of petrol and diesel falls for the fourth consecutive month in October – and comes close to its 2009 low November 4, 2015 Petrol and diesel prices continued to slide for the fourth month in a row in October, new figures suggest, with diesel hovering close to the low price it hit in 2009. Unleaded fell to 107.82p during October, from 109.45p at the start, making filling an average family car 90p cheaper, RAC said this morning. That's [...]
UK house prices: Persimmon share price falls despite jump in sales November 4, 2015 Are housebuilders finally feeling the heat? FTSE-listed builder Persimmon reported a 12 per cent sales hike in the third quarter this morning – but shares continued to slide after the sector had a spot of bother with a broker yesterday. The figures Sales were 12 per cent higher in the period since it reported its half year results on [...]
Advertising giant WPP buys majority stake in digital media buyer Essence November 4, 2015 A sign of the times? Ad giant WPP announced this morning it had bought a majority stake in Essence, a London-based digital media buyer. In a statement this morning, WPP said Essence, which was founded in London in 2005 and manages media spend of more than $700m (£453m), "blends data science, objective media and captivating experiences to [...]
Glencore share price soars to make it FTSE’s biggest riser as debt pile shrinks more than expected November 4, 2015 Glencore is expecting net debt to fall to $25bn by the end of the year, as asset sales in Australia and Chile have helped shrink the miner’s mountain of debt. The embattled mining and trading giant, which has been struggling to reassure investors worried about the size of its debt pile, today announced a debt [...]
SABMiller and AB InBev request another extension on the megabrew deal deadline November 4, 2015 The megabrew deal could be put off yet again. Brewing giants AB InBev and SABMiller have requested the UK Takeover Panel to extend the deadline by when they must formally agree on a takeover deal that would create the world’s largest brewer by far. Today was AB InBev's deadline to make a formal offer, but [...]
Emerging market slowdown wipes £79bn off the value of Britain’s biggest firms November 4, 2015 One day after Standard Chartered’s “disappointing” third-quarter results sent the Asia-focused bank’s share price down nearly 10 per cent during trading, City A.M. analysis reveals that the slowdown in China and other emerging markets has wiped off around £79bn from some of Britain’s biggest businesses. Eight blue-chip companies have seen their combined market cap plummet by £78.7bn [...]