Help to Buy lifts Persimmon new sales past 3,000 November 6, 2013 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon said yesterday it has sold over 3,000 homes under the government sponsored Help to Buy scheme, in yet another sign of rising confidence in the housing market. Chief executive Jeff Fairburn said that while 90 per cent of sales were to first-time buyers, growing market confidence was prompting more second and third-time buyers [...]
Horological heaven in Chelsea November 6, 2013 The fine watch extravaganza that is SalonQP opens tonight at the Saatchi Gallery. Timothy Barber picks his highlights About a year ago, I was making my way through the Saatchi Gallery when a man walked past carrying in his hand a tiny metal gadget that resembled a beetle crossed with a miniature car engine. But [...]
House sales jump as Help to Buy kicks in November 6, 2013 British house building company Persimmon has posted an increase in weekly private sales of 45 per cent in the third quarter. The firm attributed a large part of the stronger growth to the government's Help to Buy scheme, which the company says "has proved particularly attractive." Persimmon sold 3,000 homes under the first phase of [...]
Matchmakers transforming how we buy and sell shares November 3, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks to the duo behind Asset Match, the online peer-to-peer trading platform CROWDFUNDING platforms are multiplying across the world, with investors flocking to websites like Kickstarter to take a punt on small, private companies in the hope of high reward. Indeed, according to a recent report by research firm Massolution, by the end [...]
Ignore the cranks: Orthodox economics can account for the 2008 financial crash October 30, 2013 ONE OF the more annoying false memes of recent years has been the notion that standard corporate finance models have not worked in or since the 2008 financial crisis, and that no orthodox economics account of that crisis has been offered. As someone who implements standard finance models, and has written orthodox economics accounts of [...]
Blockbusted 2: Rental chain back in administration October 29, 2013 BLOCKBUSTER is to enter into administration for a second time, less than seven months after teetering on the brink of collapse. Gordon Brothers, the private-equity group that bought the DVD rental chain in March, said a turnaround plan had failed and that it had filed an intention to appoint administrators, believed to be Moorfields Corporate [...]
Lloyds hopes for a 2013 dividend October 29, 2013 LLOYDS hopes to pay a dividend for this year after returning to profit, chief executive Antonio Horta Osorio revealed yesterday. The bailed out bank began its privatisation last month when the government sold a £3.2bn stake in the lender, and resuming dividend payments would be another key step on the return to normality for Lloyds. [...]
Highest level of new mortgage approvals since February 2008 October 29, 2013 UK mortgage approvals were at their highest levels for five and a half years at 66,735 in September, marginally over economists' estimates of 66,000. Last month's figure was 62,22.6. The figure, reported by the Bank of England, provides, says IHS Global Insight's Howard Archer, compelling evidence that activity in the housing market was already gaining momentum even [...]
Ignore the cranks: Orthodox economics can account for the 2008 financial crash October 28, 2013 ONE OF the more annoying false memes of recent years has been the notion that standard corporate finance models have not worked in or since the 2008 financial crisis, and that no orthodox economics account of that crisis has been offered. As someone who implements standard finance models, and has written orthodox economics accounts of [...]
Ophir confirms plans to sell off Tanzanian asset October 24, 2013 AFRICA-FOCUSED oil explorer Ophir Energy soared to the top of the FTSE 250 yesterday, after the firm confirmed that it is looking to sell part of its Tanzanian assets. “We’re not surprised by the sale, due to the extent of the Tanzania project in terms of capital,” Kate Sloan, analyst at Liberum Capital, told City [...]