Centrica and SSE join gas bill price war January 12, 2012 THE ENERGY price war between the UK’s big six companies escalated yesterday as Centrica-owned British Gas cut its electricity tariff by five per cent and SSE announced a gas price reduction of 4.5 per cent. British Gas has now cut its electricity prices by five per cent with immediate effect, while Scottish and Southern Energy [...]
Barratt sees first half profits rising January 12, 2012 HOUSEBUILDER Barratt Developments yesterday reported a surge in first-half operating profit and a rise in sales. A focus on margins is helping UK housebuilders recover their footing after several difficult years, supported by new and cheaper land and a shift from apartments towards houses, which is lifting average selling prices. Barratt, one of the larger [...]
Multi-million pound properties on the up as London prices soar January 12, 2012 PROPERTY prices in the capital are booming, and show no sign of slowing as a side effect of economic gloom, two separate studies released this morning have shown. According to LSL Property Services, London house prices are 3.1 per cent higher than last year, bucking the overall downward trend that saw property prices slump 0.5 [...]
MINERVA APPOINTS EXTRA AGENTS TO MARKET WALBROOK OFFICES January 12, 2012 PROPERTY agent Jones Lang LaSalle has been hired to give an extra push to Minerva’s efforts to find tenants for St Botolph’s and the Walbrook (pictured left) in the City of London. Minerva, bought by Delancey and Area Property Partners last year, has struggled to find tenants since completing the Walbrook in 2010. CBRE and [...]
M&S CHAIR BROADENS OLD-SCHOOL EDUCATION January 12, 2012 SCHRODERS, Barclays Wealth, Deutsche Bank, Killik & Co, JP Morgan – the former pupils of Rugby School seem to have gotten everywhere in the City. And on Wednesday night, 190 Old Rugbeians reunited at Eversheds for an evening in aid of the Arnold Foundation, the trust named after Rugby’s progressive headmaster Dr Thomas Arnold that [...]
FirstGroup’s cash output is slowing down January 12, 2012 TRANSPORT operator FirstGroup said its cash generation for the full year would be lower than first thought because the tough economic climate had prevented it from selling as many of its businesses as planned. FirstGroup, which operates rail and bus services in Britain and owns the Greyhound coach company in the US, now expects to [...]
Air France unveils debt plan January 12, 2012 AIR FRANCE-KLM yesterday announced a pay freeze for French staff and cutbacks in its fleet as part of a three-year plan to end financial rot at Europe’s largest airline by revenues. The belt-tightening, coming in the wake of a series of staff strikes, is the first stage of a politically sensitive turnaround plan expected to [...]
Peugeot leaves door open for tie-up as car sales fall in Europe’s tough market January 12, 2012 PSA Peugeot Citroen yesterday left the door open to a possible alliance with a competitor to help the French car maker combat a fall in sales and tough market conditions in Europe. Speculation has been mounting that PSA could tie up with another car company such as Fiat to deal with overcapacity in the auto [...]
Rio Tinto seals takeover of uranium group Hathor January 12, 2012 RIO Tinto yesterday said it had taken complete ownership of Canadian uranium company Hathor Exploration. The miner said it had compulsorily acquired the remaining 7.9m shares not voluntarily offered after it made a $C654m (£419m) takeover bid in October. Hathor, which is based near western Canada’s Athabasca Basin, supplies approximately a fifth of the world’s [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU PLANNING TO BUY A NEW CAR IN 2012? January 12, 2012 SULTAN KABIR | UBS “No, I don’t see the point in buying a car in the city. The Boris bikes are the best way to get around, or the Tube if I have to.” LIDIA T | JP MORGAN “No. I have just given given my car away as I couldn’t see the point of [...]
