S&P reaches its highest level for five years January 17, 2013 STRONGER-than-expected data on US housing starts and jobless claims lit a fire under stocks yesterday, pushing the S&P 500 to a five-year high and its third day of gains. Shares of chipmaker Intel rose in extended-hours trading after the company forecast better-than-expected first-quarter gross margins. Intel gained 1.85 per cent after closing up 2.6 per [...]
Lenders report rise in number of home loans January 16, 2013 MORTGAGE loans ticked up in November, an influential group of lenders said yesterday, with a rise in the number of first-time buyers providing a welcome boost to the figures. The number of loans for house purchases grew by six per cent in the penultimate month of 2012, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) found. Mortgages [...]
The rise and fall of HMV: Why great companies find it so hard to adapt January 15, 2013 I FIRST started work on the HMV advertising account in 1982, little knowing that I would handle the business for over 25 years, and that my path would cross HMV’s during a golden period for the record retailer. I say record retailer because that’s what it sold back then in 1982 – records made of [...]
PC sales crash as buyers shift focus to tablets January 14, 2013 PERSONAL computer sales plunged into decline for the first time in more than a decade last year as consumers switched to buying tablets, in a serious blow to PC manufacturers and software companies. Figures released yesterday by research firm Gartner showed that worldwide sales of PCs fell by 12.7m – or 3.5 per cent – [...]
First-time buyers need to save eight years to build up deposit January 13, 2013 THOSE looking to get their foot on the housing ladder are taking eight years to save up the necessary deposit, according to research out this morning. The average deposit on a first home was £31,059 during 2012, Barclays said today, meaning potential buyers had to save eight times as long as in 1995, when a [...]
Boutique banking with an entrepreneurial itch January 13, 2013 MOST people would laugh at someone in their mid-twenties with ambitions of launching their own investment bank. That was the reaction Manish Madhvani received. But with partner Hugh Campbell, the two bankers shrugged off scepticism and, in 1999, founded GP Bullhound, a boutique investment bank giving mergers and acquisition advice and raising capital for tech [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 8, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Telecoms discuss Europe network Europe’s top telecoms executives are discussing the creation of a pan-European infrastructure network to unite the continent’s fragmented national markets, following prompting from Brussels to consider more radical options. The idea of pooling telecoms infrastructure emerged at a private meeting between Joaquín Almunia, the EU’s competition chief, and bosses [...]
FirstBuy helps attract buyers to Persimmon January 8, 2013 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon yesterday posted a 12 per cent rise in annual revenue and an uptick in interested first time buyers helped by government incentives. The news came as Persimmon revealed its chief executive would retire in April after seven years at the helm. Mike Farley, who has been with the company for more than three [...]
London Collections Men: day one January 7, 2013 The inaugural three-day showcase is back and bigger than ever AFTER A stellar debut last summer, London Collections: Men kicked off in style yesterday with David Cameron officially opening the festivities with a reception at Downing Street. This year’s event will showcase over 60 of the capital’s best menswear designers, cementing the capital’s position as [...]
Chinese property giant to make maiden investment in the City December 20, 2012 CHINA’S largest property developer by market value is set to make its first foray outside of the country after putting in an offer to buy One Finsbury Circus in the City for £152m. China Overseas Land & Investment is close to signing a deal to acquire the freehold of the Grade II listed block, designed [...]