Argos boosts Home Retail Group September 11, 2014 HOME Retail Group yesterday reported a ninth successive period of growth at Argos, but said the group’s full-year result will depend on the all-important Christmas trading period. Sales at Argos were up 1.4 per cent to £901m for the 13 weeks to 30 August, while like-for-like sales grew by 1.2 per cent. Higher sales of [...]
London hotel rates close to £150 as bookings pick up countrywide September 11, 2014 LONDON hotels have enjoyed a profitable start to the year, with 80 per cent occupancy and average daily rates of £136.60. Analysis from PwC found revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the capital rose 5.5 per cent in the first six months, to £87.30. But London hoteliers could be in for even better takings, PwC [...]
Housing market goes in reverse over August September 10, 2014 A fall in both house sales and mortgage approvals in August has backed growing evidence that the booming property market is at last slowing. A Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey showed the number of agreed house sales in August fell for the first time since September 2012, and new buyer enquiries fell for [...]
Winkworth to expand in the commuter belt September 10, 2014 WINKWORTH has revealed a strong increase in sales in the last half year as the UK property market soared. The estate agent’s sales in the six months to 30 June were £2.49m, up 20.4 per cent on the same time last year. Profit before tax increased to £803,785, against £594,633 last year. Chief executive Dominic [...]
House prices show market finally cooling September 8, 2014 HOUSE prices rose by just 0.1 per cent in August, according to the Halifax index, showing that the UK’s fast-moving property market is finally slowing down. The small increase took the average price to £186,270, with prices in the three months to August three per cent higher than the previous quarter and 9.7 per cent [...]
Randgold calls for more help to fight Ebola September 8, 2014 RANDGOLD Resources has joined 10 other miners calling for a bigger global effort to fight the Ebola virus and for travel bans on affected countries to be lifted. In a statement released yesterday, the West Africa-focused company said it had a long-term commitment to the area hit by the epidemic and was continuing, where possible, [...]
Getech shares soar after new contract worth £3m in Angola September 8, 2014 SHARES in oil services group Getech Group yesterday soared 18.4 per cent after it announced its largest-ever single new contract, worth $5m (£3.1m). Getech, which specialises in geoscience, said it was awarded a contract by the Angolan National Oil Company, Sonangol, which oversees oil and gas exploration and production in the Republic of Angola. Getech [...]
Rail commuters get boost as Osborne caps fare rises September 7, 2014 Rail fare increases will be capped at 2.5 per cent for 2015 in a bid to help hard-pressed commuters, the government has announced. Chancellor George Osborne said the move, which limits price hikes of regulated rail fares to the rate of inflation, was a bid to help taxpayers, and was only possible because of other [...]
Goldman Sachs faces BES losses September 1, 2014 GOLDMAN Sachs lent over £500m to Banco Espirito Santo (BES) just a month before the Portuguese government was forced to bail out the crisis-hit bank. The Wall Street bank bought up $835m (£503m) worth of the Portuguese lender’s bonds in July through a special investment vehicle, Oak Finance, with the intention of selling on the [...]
Quindell buys out RAC partner September 1, 2014 QUINDELL is poised to announce today that it is buying the RAC’s stake in a joint venture for black boxes in cars. The London-listed insurance claims processor, whose shares have slumped this year after criticism about its business model, will inform the stock market today that it is to take full control of Connected Car [...]
