Strong London market helps Great Portland May 23, 2012 LONDON property group Great Portland Estates (GPE) impressed investors yesterday with an improving portfolio and a record year for leasings. Annual pre-tax profits took a battering, down 36 per cent to £155.2m, as the firm spent on development and refurbishment work. But the group’s net asset value rose 11.9 per cent in the year to [...]
Shaftesbury profits rise as West End sites fend off retail gloom May 23, 2012 THE PROSPEROUS West End continued to shelter Shaftesbury from the wider gloom in the retail sector as the London property firm posted a 15 per cent jump in first half profits. The company, which owns 500 properties across London’s key tourist hotspots including Carnaby Street and China Town reported a pre-tax profit of £16.1m in [...]
European shop investment hits fresh low May 23, 2012 WORSENING political and economic turmoil in the Eurozone has knocked investment in Europe’s shopping centres and stores to its lowest level since 1997, new research shows. European retail property investment fell to €3.69bn in the first quarter of 2012, down from €12.6bn in the same period in 2011 and €9.3bn in the previous quarter, according [...]
Hicl portfolio in rapid expansion May 23, 2012 Hicl, which invests in infrastructure projects, said yesterday that its portfolio had increased by 34 per cent in the year to the end of March. The company said its assets are worth around £902m compared with £673m the year before. Hicl announced a second interim dividend of 3.5p, taking the total pay-out for the year [...]
Telecom Plus signals tough 2013 May 23, 2012 British utility supplier Telecom Plus’s full-year profit rose 12 per cent but it said its profit growth in 2013 would be restricted to about 10 per cent by a need for additional investment and the loss of marketing support from a partner. This year the company – which supplies gas, electricity, fixed and mobile telecoms [...]
Aveva acquires Bocad for £14m May 23, 2012 Engineering software group Aveva yesterday announced that it had bought 3D specialist Bocad. The deal is worth £14m. Richard Longdon, chief executive of Aveva said: “This acquisition further extends Aveva’a position in the Engineering & Design market providing the most comprehensive 3D design software for plant and marine. “We’re excited about the opportunity to unlock [...]
Enterprise Bill promises to cut tribunal costs May 23, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable yesterday unveiled the government’s Enterprise and Regulatory Reform bill and claimed that it will “make Britain one of the most enterprise-friendly countries in the world”. Measures in the bill, announced as part of this month’s Queen’s Speech, include changes to the employment tribunal system, introducing a new Competition and Markets Authority and giving [...]
Beecroft lashes out at Cable over briefing May 23, 2012 ADRIAN Beecroft, the venture capitalist who has produced a radical set of employment reforms for the government, yesterday hit out at business secretary Vince Cable, calling him a “socialist” who “appears to do very little to support business”. Beecroft’s long-awaited jobs report was released on Monday and contains proposals to roll back employment law by making it easier [...]
More QE on the way if growth declines further May 23, 2012 THE BANK of England stands ready to try to boost the economy with more monetary stimulus, the minutes of the most recent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting showed yesterday, as inflation is at last starting to fall. The committee voted by a margin of eight to one against re-starting the quantitative easing (QE) programme, but [...]
Senior Bank official hits out at pension funds’ gilt complaints May 23, 2012 QUANTITATIVE easing (QE) has not hurt pension funds nearly as much as they claim, the Bank of England’s Charlie Bean said yesterday – and complaining about the impact of the policy may be distracting trustees from genuine long-term threats. Although QE is designed to push down gilt yields, which reduces returns for pension funds investing [...]
