Franc cap sees SNB reserves rise October 6, 2011 Foreign exchange reserves held by the Swiss National Bank rose by 29bn Swiss francs (£20.4bn) in September, the month it began defending a currency cap on the soaring franc, though it said money market injections accounted for most of the rise. Reserves rose to 282.35bn Swiss francs, according to the SNB figures released yesterday. The [...]
House prices decline again in September October 6, 2011 VOLATILITY continued in the housing market, with September’s price falls reversing gains seen in June and July, the Halifax index revealed yesterday. Prices are down 0.5 per cent compared with August and 2.3 per cent over the last 12 months, the seasonally adjusted figures show. The rate of decline has slowed from its peak of [...]
Fixed mortgages sink to their cheapest rates for 45 months October 6, 2011 MORTGAGE rates on high loan-to-value deals have sunk to their lowest point since January 2008. Loans worth 90 per cent of the value of the acquired property are available at an average of 5.39 per cent on a fixed two year rate, the website Moneyfacts has claimed. The average rate has tumbled from 6.05 per [...]
Halfords hit by soaring price of fuel October 6, 2011 A SURGE in petrol prices has further dented sales at Halfords as cash-strapped drivers are forced off the road. The retailer said like-for-like sales fell 2.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to 30 September, compounding a 1.1 per cent drop in the previous three months. Sales of car maintenance products were down 3.3 per [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: IS HALFORDS ON THE RIGHT PATH? October 6, 2011 NICK BUBB | ARDEN PARTNERS It is disappointing to see profits under-shooting at the Autocentre business, but we are holding our full-year group profit before tax forecast at £99m, after a solid quarter two in the core business. Having expected to have to downgrade again, we are relieved by today’s news and so, despite the [...]
ICG attracts €1.1bn to new fund October 6, 2011 Buyout funder Intermediate Capital Group yesterday said it has raised €1.1bn at the first closing of its new Europe fund, well on the way to its €2bn target. Around €500m came from the firm’s investment company. ICG said in a trading update that its mezzanine funds are performing well compared with private equity funds, and [...]
TNT Express warns on profits October 6, 2011 Dutch freight and delivery firm TNT Express issued a profit warning yesterday as the global economic slowdown led more customers to snub air transport in favour of cheaper shipping. TNT Express, which listed in May after it split from Dutch mail group PostNL, cut its 2011 outlook and said it saw revenue pressure in Europe, [...]
Ferrexpo pellet production rises October 6, 2011 Ukrainian iron ore producer Ferrexpo said total production of pellets in the third-quarter was slightly higher than last year, helping send the firm’s shares up 10 per cent. Total pellet output rose about 1.5 per cent to 2.33m tonnes in the third quarter, the company said yesterday.
Greggs is on a roll as sales grow again October 6, 2011 HIGH street baker Greggs yesterday reported a rise in sales growth in the third quarter despite the squeeze on consumer spending. Like-for-like sales rose 0.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to 1 October, the company said in an interim management statement. That compares with a rise of 0.4 per cent in the first half [...]
Legal market overhaul starts as Tesco law comes into force October 6, 2011 SUPERMARKETS, banks and other high street stores are now able to offer legal services to their customers, after a new law to liberalise the UK’s legal sector came into force yesterday. The Legal Services Act, dubbed the Tesco law, introduces the idea of alternative business structures (ABS), which allow law firms to seek outside investment, [...]
