Taylor Wimpey indicates signs of market recovery August 5, 2009 HOUSEBUILDER Taylor Wimpey added to improving sentiment in the housing market yesterday by saying it saw stability in the UK and United States, although further writedowns dragged its shares lower. The company, which already wrote down the value of its land and work in progress by just over £1bn during 2008, announced a further £527m [...]
ABI joins FSA Osborne row August 5, 2009 TORY shadow chancellor George Osborne is facing mounting opposition over his plans to scrap City watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA), with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) now lobbying against the move. The ABI believes the FSA has shown it can adapt to a new era of regulation, and disagrees with Osborne’s plans to [...]
UK housing market shows more signs of stabilisation as prices surge in July August 5, 2009 HOUSE prices in Britain rose 1.1 per cent in July in the latest sign of growing stability in the property market, data from Halifax showed yesterday. The mortgage lender reported that in the three months to July, house prices jumped 0.8 per cent, the first rise on a quarterly basis since October 2007. The rise [...]
Quantitative easing: time for a break August 5, 2009 IT IS A CASE of two steps forwards, one step backwards for the UK economy. Today’s good news was that house prices are stabilising, with a strong survey from the Halifax; we also had a great purchasing managers index for services, suggesting that crucial sector is growing once more. But there is also plenty of worrying [...]
Max Property seals its first bumper deal August 5, 2009 NICK Leslau’s new venture Max Property yesterday clinched its first deal, buying up a £245.4m portfolio of distressed industrial real estate, though the property mogul warned recession bargains in the sector remain few and far between. Max, which raised £220m when it floated on Aim nine weeks ago in the biggest IPO of the year [...]
Time to call a halt to the reporting season pile-up August 5, 2009 THE blizzard of blue chip companies reporting major results in the past fortnight has turned into an avalanche. Yesterday marked the last of the overwhelming diary days – at least for a while. The respite is a relief for the analysts tasked with producing research notes based on the results, not to mention shareholders and [...]
UK output bottomed out in May August 5, 2009 BRITAIN’S economy is finally starting to stabilise, a top think-tank said yesterday. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said that it was hopeful that May would prove to be the trough of economic activity. The news comes ahead of the Bank of England’s crucial decision today on whether or not to extend [...]
REVEALED: HUGE COST OF BBC MOVE August 5, 2009 THE BBC’s controversial decision to move part of its operations to Salford will cost a staggering £876m, City A.M. can reveal, provoking outrage among the state-funded broadcaster’s commercial rivals. And according to confidential documents leaked to this newspaper, moving the five divisions – which include sports and children’s – to Salford’s Media City development near [...]
CITY VIEWS: BARCLAYS WORKERS ARE PROTESTING TOMORROW. DO THESE KINDS OF PROTEST MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE? August 5, 2009 UDAY BAROT FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR“No, I don’t think this sort of strategy works. Big banks don’t listen and just do what they want. The smaller voices aren’t heard so protesting, in my opinion, doesn’t make a big difference.” TOLU BABATOLA LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS CO-ORDINATOR“No, I don’t think protesting makes much difference in such large corporations. [...]
Shire shrugs off fight from generic rivals August 5, 2009 SHIRE yesterday reported second quarter revenues just ahead of expectations, as strong growth from new drugs offset a big hit from the loss of patent protection on hyperactivity pill Adderall XR. Britain’s third-biggest drugmaker said quarterly sales of its previous blockbuster Adderall XR fell by 77 per cent to $67m (£39.3m) as it was hit [...]
