Rok chief dismisses Connaught parallel August 15, 2010 THE chief executive of beleaguered construction firm Rok hit back at the weekend at comparisons between his company and social housing group Connaught, which has seen its share price collapse in recent weeks after a shock profits warning. Rok boss Garvis Snook told a Sunday newspaper that the two firms’ respective woes are “two totally [...]
Property price slide starts to feed through to companies August 15, 2010 RENEWED weakness in the housing market pushed more real estate services companies to the brink in July, according to the latest monthly City A.M./Begbies Traynor health monitor for the Square Mile. As economists look to September as the “crunch time” for Britain’s struggling property sector, our survey shows 945 firms across London including estate agents, [...]
Investors fail to see light as trading drops August 15, 2010 INVESTOR confidence has crumbled to its lowest ebb for eight years, according to a bleak market analysis released today. The grim data shows the value of shares traded this year has plummeted as the UK’s recovery from recession remains on a knife edge. The turbulence from the economic crisis triggered by the collapse of Lehman [...]
ANALYST VIEWS? WHAT DOES THE LACK OF ACTIVITY IN THE MARKET MEAN FOR THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE? August 15, 2010 JEREMY BATSTONE-CARR | CHARLES STANLEY “These figures represent very accurately what has been going on in the market. Recent economic data that has been issued showing an upturn is a false dawn. Investor confidence is very weak and I do not accept that things are getting that much better. Trading has been poor and the [...]
Betfair to launch its own trading system August 15, 2010 ONLINE gambling group Betfair is gearing up to launch a trading platform in London later this year, becoming the latest in a line of companies to compete with the London Stock Exchange. Following approval from the FSA at the end of July, developers are working to complete the platform based on Betfair’s existing gambling programmes, [...]
Medium-term UK gilts outlook remains rosy August 15, 2010 IN WHAT was one of the most important Fed meetings of recent times last week, the US central bank moved to support lower borrowing costs by reinvesting funds from maturing mortgage-backed securities in longer term government bonds. While this had been touted as a potential option for the Fed, most thought it would save some [...]
Consumer confidence dips with age August 15, 2010 RESEARCH has shown a yawning gap in the effect of the recent austerity Budget on confidence levels among young and old people. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found 30 per cent of 18-24 year-olds think they will be better off in 12 months’ time. Confidence then dips on a declining scale, turning negative among 35-44 year-olds and bottoming [...]
CBI warns on energy planning delays August 15, 2010 Plans to hand powers to ministers to approve major energy infrastructure projects is making investors nervous about committing to large-scale building projects, according to the CBI. The decision to replace the independent Infrastructure Planning Commission with a Major Infrastructure Unit has been met with concern by the business group, which has identified applications for 37 [...]
AA and Saga owner racks up £500m loss August 15, 2010 THE OWNER of the AA and Saga has revealed huge annual losses thanks to the cost of servicing its massive private equity debts. Accounts filed at Companies House show Acromas posted a pre-tax loss of £529m for the year to 31 January, with operating profits of £183.5m dwarfed by interest payments of £705m. The company’s [...]
Britain should support banks, not vilify them August 15, 2010 AS fears over a double-dip recession have intensified in the past week, with economic data in the UK, US and elsewhere suggesting the global recovery is slowing, many commentators have again turned their attention to the banks. Even as the banks return to profit, the argument goes, they are constraining growth by reducing lending to [...]
