Asset sales help Travelex swing back into profit March 28, 2012 BRITISH foreign exchange company Travelex, whose bureaux de change are prevalent in many of the world’s leading airports, yesterday said it swung back to a profit in 2011 after netting gains of some £436m from the sale of key businesses. Travelex, which is majority-owned by private equity company Apax, reported 2011 profits of £377.6m, up [...]
Final three shortlisted to build Olympic homes March 28, 2012 THREE competing bidders have been shortlisted to build 800 homes in the first neighbourhood at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after the London 2012 Games. Barratt Homes and Le Frak Organisation, Taylor Wimpey and London & Quadrant as well as East Thames and Countryside Properties, have been selected from a shortlist of six potential developers [...]
Now activists target Olympic basketball site March 28, 2012 PROTESTERS linked to the long-running St Paul’s demonstration have set up camp in an Olympic construction site, stopping work on the basketball training ground. Ten to 15 campaigners, some of whom camped at St Paul’s Cathedral as part of the Occupy movement, have pitched tents on the Leyton Marsh site, stopping construction work. It follows [...]
Hansteen continues investment as earnings dip March 28, 2012 PROPERTY investor Hansteen Holdings has said it will continue to hunt new acquisitions despite posting a sharp drop in annual pre-tax profits. The FTSE 250 company, which owns and manages real estate in the UK and continental Europe, said pre-tax profits fell to £8.9m from £33.2m in 2010 after a fall in the value of [...]
FirstService snaps up Colliers March 28, 2012 PROPERTY services group Colliers UK was yesterday taken over by Canadian giant FirstService under a pre-pack administration deal. Debt-laden Colliers, which had been in talks with FirstService since January, appointed administrators this morning before it was snapped up for $22m (£13.9m). The sale leaves shareholders with nothing due to the high levels of debt in [...]
Wealthy prefer London when choosing home March 28, 2012 LONDON and New York are still the best places for the world’s elite to buy houses, a new study revealed yesterday – but competition is growing rapidly from Beijing and Dubai. Quality of life, knowledge, influence and economic activity are all key factors for the ultra-wealthy in choosing where to invest, according to the latest [...]
Most UK firms want to create jobs this year March 28, 2012 BUSINESSES are eager to hire more staff, a survey showed yesterday – but they do not think ex-public sector workers have the skills needed for private sector work. Fifty-eight per cent of companies told Barclays’ job creation survey they plan to create jobs over the next 12 months, almost unchanged from the 57 per cent [...]
LONDONERS HEAD FOR THE COUNTRYSIDE March 28, 2012 PROPERTY agent Savills said it was beginning to see “the first green shoots of recovery” in some of the prime residential markets outside of London, driven by an increase in affluent buyers making a move from the capital to the home counties. Savills said commuter hotspots showed particularly strong quarterly growth of over five per [...]
Mad Men fails to boost Sky March 28, 2012 Fewer than 100,000 people saw series five of Mad Men, a drama about advertising executives, debut on Sky Atlantic on Tuesday night and only half of viewers tuned in to the second episode of the double-bill. While the ratings figure is likely to grow as not all Sky subscribers will have watched the show live, [...]
BA offers more BMI concessions March 28, 2012 EU regulators are assessing extra concessions offered by British Airways owner IAG to gain approval for its bid to buy Lufthansa’s BMI, after initial proposals fell short, the EU’s antitrust chief said yesterday. IAG wants to buy BMI to boost its share of runway slots at Heathrow. EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said IAG submitted [...]
