Property meltdown July 9, 2008 A property meltdown loomed yesterday as new figures showed mortgage completions at near record lows and commercial property values falling across the country. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said loans for house purchases rose by 4 per cent in May to 52,700, up from 51,000 in April, but were 44 per cent down on [...]
Russia’s Sibir Energy races towards FTSE July 8, 2008 London-listed mid-sized Russian oil company Sibir Energy said yesterday its full-year pre-tax profit trebled to $344m (£172m) due to higher output at its Siberian unit and strong margins from refining and retail. Sibir said its crude oil production rose 80 per cent in the year to 17.8 million barrels. Most of the output, 15.3 million [...]
Grim data supports UK recession fears July 8, 2008 Fears a UK recession is inevitable rose yesterday after official data indicated British industrial output had fallen at its sharpest pace in two and a half years in May, while manufacturing output fell by 0.5 per cent compared to April. Data from the Office for National Statistics indicated that UK industrial production fell 0.8 per [...]
How Marks & Spark’s reputation helps to predict its share price July 7, 2008 Does it help M&S to be an iconic brand? It has huge traction in the public mind, which can amplify both its successes and its failures. When it does well, everyone notices – but when it reports disappointing results, and the share price plummets, the story is all over our TV screens. And that doesn’t [...]
London nears fresh fall into bear territory July 7, 2008 The City is bracing itself for possible entry into bear market territory this week, after the FTSE fell 41.7 points to 5434.9 by midday on Friday, and saw the psychologically-important 5,400 level broken in the final hour. With the words “negative”, “topsy-turvy”, and “recession” dominating reports on the market at the end of last week, [...]
B&B drama caps another day of troubles for UK Plc July 4, 2008 A day of gloom for the global economy was capped late last night by the revelation that private equity group TPG had walked away from its rescue of Bradford & Bingley. The dramatic development, which will see the bank rescued instead by City institutions, came as Moody’s downgraded B&B’s credit for the second time. The [...]
US in bear territory July 3, 2008 Another torrid day of trading on Wall Street plunged America into an official bear market last night for the first time as oil prices hit a fresh high. A technical bear market occurs when shares are seen to have fallen by a fifth from their previous highs. Oil moved above $144 in New York, while [...]
Double dose of corporate woe leaves City investors reeling July 3, 2008 The city was left reeling yesterday after retail giant Marks & Spencer issued a shock profits warning and Britain’s largest housebuilder Taylor Wimpey admitted it had been unable to secure £500m in funding. The bleak news from M&S, an industry bellwether, that the consumer downturn was likely to be “longer and harder fought” than previously [...]
Buying off-plan means that you have control over your investment July 3, 2008 You can land a bargain if you are prepared to do your research, writes Timothy Barber Buying a property can be pretty much the most stressful process you can put yourself through. You can multiply that by ten when it comes to buying abroad. Whether looking for a holiday home or a simple investment, a [...]
Despite the gloomy market, investors still have something to cheer about July 3, 2008 Look beyond the doom-mongering, and there is still money to be made in property, says Alex Delmar-Morgan Property is a subject close to the hearts of the British people, and many home-owners have been chuffed over the past few years to see the prices of their properties increasing at massive rates. Surely, though, even the [...]