Overseas buyers rush to snap up prime properties November 8, 2009 The demand for prime properties from overseas buyers has surged during the downturn, beating records for levels of interest from foreign parties. Richard Hill Estates, property developer of million pound homes, yesterday said that on average around 30 per cent of prime property enquiries it receives are from overseas buyers, but the figure at the [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 8, 2009 Jones Lang LaSalleJones Lang LaSalle’s Sustainability Services team has appointed Erin Karsten as EMEA technical sustainability consultant. Karsten was formerly a senior programme manager with the firm. Her new role will involve developing delivery of Downstream services and will act as a single point of contact for the region. The role will also involve working [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 8, 2009 ITVRoyal Bank of Scotland reiterated its “buy” rating on ITV and raised its target price from 60p to 66p, following the broadcaster’s upbeat trading statement last week.It also raised its net advertising revenue (NAR) forecast from -12.6 per cent to -10.4 per cent, driving a 22 per cent increase in its 2009 operating profit forecast.GREAT [...]
US banking failures top 120 for the year November 8, 2009 United Commercial Bank, a big San Francisco bank with branches in China, was closed by state regulators this weekend and its operations were acquired by East West Bancorp, also active in both nations. East West said the transaction made it the second-largest independent bank in California. Based in Pasadena, East West has 137 US branches, [...]
Innocent ravaged in downturn after smoothie sales fall November 8, 2009 Smoothie maker Innocent, which sold a minority stake to drinks giant Coca-Cola in April, fell into the red last year due to falling sales. The group reported a pre-tax loss of £11.2m for the year ending 31 December 2008, compared to a profit of £12m the year before. Innocent did not report a dividend, compared [...]
Wagamama halts expansion November 8, 2009 Wagamama, the canteen-style noodle bar chain, has said that it has temporarily halted its expansion plans, but is set to resume openings in the spring after a robust financial performance. The Japanese restaurant chain, which has 65 restaurants, said operating profits jumped 75 per cent to £7.1m for the year to April 2009 on sales [...]
Scottish & Southern consortium November 8, 2009 Utility group Scottish and Southern Energy has joined with Borealis, the Canadian infrastructure firm to form a consortium to bid for Britain’s biggest electricity network. The consortium has hired Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets as advisers on the £4bn auction.
Icelandic bank is investigated November 8, 2009 Iceland’s financial watchdog is investigating allegations of market manipulation at fallen bank Glitnir. The Icelandic bank was one of the first to collapse in the credit crunch. It is now facing a probe into whether it loaned money to third parties to buy its own shares. Fellow Icelandic bank Kaupthing has faced a similar inquiry. [...]
Prem goal fest means punters who buy goals keep winning November 8, 2009 A FEW weeks ago, there was a story kicking about that the high street bookies were suffering because of the low number of draws that we have seen in the premier league so far this season. The high number of goals meant that there were fewer nils-nils and one-alls, and far more edge-of-the-seat, high-scoring thrillers. [...]
Christmas will be make or break for our retailers November 8, 2009 WHEN the Christmas lights on Regent Street were switched on last week, it marked the beginning of the most important period of the year for high-street retailers. Many can earn 60 per cent of their annual profits in the peak weeks of Christmas. After a dismal end to 2008 when it seemed like retail chains [...]
