Fellow watchdog to slam Ofgem over tariffs policy July 2, 2015 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to slam Ofgem’s policy on electricity tariffs when it publishes the preliminary findings from its energy market review next week. The report, which is likely to be released on 7 July, will highlight the “four tariffs” rule that Ofgem imposes on energy firms as being bad for [...]
IMF: Greece needs debt reduction due to poor recent governance July 2, 2015 One of Greece’s official creditors has acknowledged that the country needs debt relief, but only due to the choices of its current leadership elected in January. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday that Greece would need more than €50bn (£36bn) in financing by the end of 2018, as well as a doubling in the length [...]
UK house prices: First-time home buyers priced out of market July 2, 2015 Annual house price growth has slowed to a two-year low, according to a major mortgage provider. But months of fast growth has left first-time buyers struggling to put deposits together, despite government programmes to help them. House prices were 3.3 per cent higher in June than in the same month last year, Nationwide said. It [...]
London planning permission approvals for new houses soar July 2, 2015 A surge in planning approvals for new houses in London has lifted the prospects for building. London boroughs granted planning permission to 11,870 homes during the first three months of the year, estate agent Stirling Ackroyd said today. If that rate continued, 47,460 homes would be given planning permission this year. [...]
Persimmon reports jump in sales July 2, 2015 Housebuilder Persimmon has posted a jump in sales for the first half of the year, boosted by a pick-up in consumer confidence following the General Election. Legal completions increased by seven per cent to 6,855 new homes, while total revenue surged by 12 per cent to £1.34bn in the six months to 30 June. [...]
China in the throes of investment fever: Ordinary Chinese gripped by buzz of stock market speculation July 2, 2015 Three years ago China was in the grip of a walnut investing bubble. In an episode akin to 17th century tulip mania, wealthy Chinese paid up to £3,000 (¥30,000) for a pair of walnuts which cost £36 (¥350) several years prior. In the belief that rolling a nut in the palm of the hand [...]
Worldview on the war path in Petroceltic row July 2, 2015 The war of words between Irish oil firm Petroceltic and activist investor Worldview kicked off again yesterday, as the Swiss investment firm announced its intention to requisition an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). Petroceltic and Worldview, which holds 29 per cent of the oil company’s share capital, were previously engaged in a protracted battle over control [...]
Everybody loves Wolfgang Schäuble: The German finance minister is more popular than ever with the general public July 2, 2015 While Yanis Varoufakis is threatening to quit his job if the Greeks accept creditors' proposals for a bailout deal in Sunday's referendum, one Eurozone finance minister is building stronger ties than ever with his country. Read more: Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis: "We will not accept a one per cent primary budget surplus" Today, [...]
Sage to move into the Shard July 2, 2015 Software company Sage is to move into The Shard after the owners of London’s iconic skyscraper announced it has bagged three new lettings. Real Estate Management (REM), which manages the building on behalf of the Irvine Sellar and the State of Qatar, said an “as yet un-named” software company understood to be Sage has [...]
The UK’s biotech drain: This is why London’s most successful startups are heading to New York July 2, 2015 There's a mass migration taking place across the Atlantic right now. Each year, many of the UK's best biotech firms are choosing to leave and head to New York, where they can benefit from wealthy investors throwing their money at Nasdaq. Read more: Federal Reserve sees social media and biotech valuations as "substantially stretched" [...]