Woolies’ investor backs management September 1, 2008 Ardeshir Naghshineth, the largest shareholder in Woolworths, has backed the struggling retailer’s management team in rejecting a £50m takeover bid from Iceland founder Malcolm Walker. Iranian property investor Naghshineth, said to be worth an estimated £500m, has a 10.2 per cent stake in the firm and was yesterday reported to consider Walker’s bid as being [...]
Latest house price fall piles on the misery September 1, 2008 House prices slumped by 0.9 per cent in August, falling for the 11th successive month and adding to the gloom currently surrounding the market. According to the latest national housing market survey from Hometrack, average prices are down by 5.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis, the lowest level since the survey began in 2001. [...]
Running an old media company isn’t much fun right now August 29, 2008 The outlook for most of the media is as bleak as the August weather. Everywhere you look this week profits seem to be tumbling as cost cuts and job losses accelerate. Johnston Press chief executive Tim Bowdler could see little cause for hope for 18 months at the very least as he unveiled an advertising [...]
House price fall takes UK to the brink August 29, 2008 Economy on the verge of crisis as house prices fall at their sharpest rate for 18 years Fresh evidence that Britain’s economy is on the brink of crisis continues to emerge after August house prices fell at their sharpest annual rate in 18 years and retail sales slumped. House prices fell 1.9 per cent during [...]
Cash and bonds will help protect your investments from stagflation August 29, 2008 It’s time to re-balance your portfolio to cushion the blow of the bear market, says Bill Jamieson Investors have arrived at a critical inflection point on portfolio planning. Many believe that key sectors of the equity market such as banks and house builders are now undervalued, yet they choose to remain markedly underweight in these [...]
Price website offers half of future profits August 28, 2008 Moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website, will increase its dividend payout ratio to 50 per cent of all future profits. The bold move was revealed yesterday alongside interim results, and was welcomed by shareholders in the firm, who saw their investment dramatically decrease because of last year’s flotation. The interim dividend is held at 1.3p per [...]
Hargreaves: UK economy to shrink for 18 months August 28, 2008 The recession in the UK could last up to 18 months, chief executive of Bristol-based fund manager Hargreaves Lansdown warned yesterday. Peter Hargreaves, the cofounder of the firm, said that he expects the FTSE 100 index to fall below the 5,000 mark and that there could be up to six quarters of negative growth, worse [...]
O’Brien attacks INM August 28, 2008 Denis O’Brien, a major shareholder in Independent News & Media (INM), has called on the group to “urgently” review the operations of its flagship titles The Independent and Belfast Telegraph after first-half profits tumbled. While the group grew its underlying revenues by three per cent in the six months to 30 June, adjusted earnings per [...]
TNS rebuffs WPP despite GfK walk out August 28, 2008 Market research company Taylor Nelson Sofre said it would continue to fight WPP’s hostile bid even after its preferred bidder GfK walked away from a takeover deal yesterday because it could not raise enough cash. German GfK had been trying to raise financing with private equity groups and wealth investors to launch a rival takeover [...]
Taylor Wimpey profits hit by £1.5bn writedown August 28, 2008 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey’s first half profits fell sharply after writing down a massive £1.5bn loss on the value of its property assets. The new homes specialist, which earlier in the year warned it would breach its banking covenant over the full year, said yesterday that it was still in talks with its bankers about revising [...]
