Homebuilders welcome rise of green shoots November 12, 2012 HOUSEBUILDERS Taylor Wimpey and Bovis Homes yesterday said they had continued to make steady progress since the first half of the year as their focus on margins paid off. In a third quarter update, Taylor Wimpey said housing market conditions remained stable and while mortgage lending was still constrained, it had seen “incremental improvement” since [...]
Bright signs can also be an indication of danger ahead November 12, 2012 THERE were glimmers of optimism from the housebuilders yesterday. Bovis Homes reported its average selling price up from £180,100 in 2011 to £190,000 and its operating margin expected to be 13 per cent, up from 10 per cent in 2011. Redrow and Taylor Wimpey also both backed the picture of a sector facing tough but [...]
Rebel shareholders fail to oust Redrow non-executive director November 12, 2012 A GROUP of rebel shareholders failed to oust one of Redrow’s senior non-executive directors yesterday over his handling of founder and chairman Steve Morgan’s failed attempt to take the housebuilder private. Alan Jackson saw a 24 per cent vote against his re-election at the firm’s annual meeting in Wales, after investors voiced concerns over his [...]
Surveys reveal housing sector activity boost November 12, 2012 THE UK’S ailing housing sector has begun to show signs of life, according to two widely-regarded reports released yesterday and this morning. Interest in residential properties from potential buyers grew at its fastest rate for nearly three years in October, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) revealed this morning. The number of agreed sales [...]
Ofcom sets out the rules for 4G airwaves sale November 12, 2012 BRITAIN will have wider access to high-speed 4G mobile services from late spring next year, the communications regulator confirmed yesterday, as it published final terms for an auction of airwaves to be held in January. The auction of 4G-approved spectrum, some of which was previously used for analogue TV signals, will raise at least £1.3bn [...]
Aveva looks to new software to drive growth as sales improve November 12, 2012 SOFTWARE firm Aveva said yesterday it expects healthy growth in the coming years, driven by its recently-launched design software Everything3D (E3D). “Feedback from existing and prospective customers on this ground-breaking technology has been universally positive,” Aveva said, as it posted a 15 per cent rise in revenue in the six months to October. The firm, [...]
Vodafone gets dividend from Verizon venture November 12, 2012 VODAFONE will finally get its dividend payout from Verizon Wireless, after its US partner said last night that its board has agreed to dole out a bigger-than-expected $8.5bn (£5.4bn). The announcement follows months of investor speculation as to whether Verizon Wireless, which is controlled by Verizon Communications, would choose to pay a dividend this year. [...]
Research in Motion to unveil latest BlackBerry in January November 12, 2012 BLACKBERRY maker Research in Motion (RIM) will unveil the next generation of its smartphones in January, the troubled Canadian company announced yesterday. The BlackBerry 10 (BB10) software, which has been repeatedly delayed by technical problems, will be a radical overhaul of the operating system used on its phones. RIM is pinning its hopes on the [...]
Entertainment One investment hits profit in breakthrough year November 12, 2012 INDEPENDENT film studio Entertainment One has ploughed more money into movie production and promotion ahead of the release of its latest lucrative Twilight movie and its acquisition of Alliance Films. The investments pushed the Canadian company’s profits down to just £1m in the first half of the financial year, it said yesterday. This was down [...]
Tech City becomes London‘s growth hub November 12, 2012 BUSINESSES in East London’s “Silicon Roundabout” area are set to be the key drivers of growth in London over the coming years, according to research released yesterday by the Centre for Economics and Business Research. The research claims that technology and media companies in the East End are growing twice as fast as those in [...]
