Rights issue flop knocks housebuilder July 3, 2008 The future of housebuilder Taylor Wimpey was in doubt yesterday as the beleaguered group failed to raise £500m of capital from investors, causing the value of the company to halve. Britain’s largest builder issued an intensely gloomy statement, saying it was slashing 900 jobs, it was not buying any more land, and admitted it was [...]
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 [...]
Persimmon in mass job cull July 7, 2008 Persimmon, Britain’s most profitable housebuilder, will announce tomorrow that it is cutting 20 per cent of its workforce, in the latest mass cull to hit the beleaguered sector. Persimmon is expected to say it is making at least 1,000 redundancies in a trading update on Tuesday, as it attempts to reduce costs and ride out [...]
Wolseley to slash more jobs July 14, 2008 Wolseley, the heating and plumbing supplier, plans to cut hundreds of jobs due to the downturn in its core American and European markets. The move is yet further evidence of the looming recession facing the UK economy in general and housing related industries in particular. The firm, which employs around 14,000 people in Britain, already [...]
Berkeley pays bosses £60m July 7, 2008 Multi-Millionaire property entrepreneur Tony Pidgley and three of his fellow directors at housebuilder Berkeley Group are getting a £60m pay-out, it has emerged. Pidgley and the three other members of the management team will net around 7 per cent of the company, which is valued at around £770m. The pay-outs come at a time when [...]
Debts boost for Galliford helps shares July 4, 2008 Housebuilder and construction firm Galliford Try surprised the City yesterday, saying it had been able to slash its debt to less than £5m, sending its shares up 14 per cent by the close of trading. The figure fell well below analyst expectations, with predictions that the firm, which operates in the public and private sector, [...]
Barratt close to securing debt deal July 10, 2008 Housebuilder Barratt Developments is today expected to reveal it has managed to renegotiate a refinancing package with its bankers. Barratt, which has £1.7bn debt and a market capitalisation of just £140m, has been negotiating with lenders to extend repayment of £400m debt due in April , as well as agree changes to its debt covenants [...]
Why equities have further to fall before they eventually recover September 5, 2008 Despite a strong August, investors must remain very cautious, warns Abigail Townsend For the City’s dwindling band of optimists, August was a surprisingly good month. After hefty falls for most of the summer, the FTSE 100 rallied from lows of below 5,100 in early July to close at 5,362 yesterday, a 5.14 per cent gain [...]