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 [...]
City Moves for 14 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 13, 2013 Legal & General Alex Gipson has been appointed as a loans originator and underwriter in Legal & General’s commercial lending team. He joins from RBS, where he worked for 27 years. Gipson was most recently director of housing finance within RBS’s structured finance team. He is a social housing expert, and has worked on numerous [...]
UK consumer price index is forecast higher January 13, 2013 UTILITY prices are expected to have lifted the UK’s consumer price index (CPI), the household spending index due out tomorrow along with a swathe of housing and retail data. “We expect CPI inflation to have edged up to 2.8 per cent year on year in December from 2.7 per cent, and retail price index (RPI) [...]
Banks keep FTSE 100 above 6,100 level January 11, 2013 The blue chip index nudged up in early trading this morning – staying above the 6,100 level – as it consolidated overnight gains from the US, where the S&P 500 hit a five-year high. Financial stocks were bouncing about at the top of the FTSE 100 in early deals, with Barclays and RBS adding 1.8 [...]
The good, the bad January 10, 2013 THE DIVIDED state of the UK retail sector was brought into sharp focus yesterday as an upbeat Tesco and Shop Direct claimed victory in the Christmas retail wars, while Marks and Spencer suffered the fallout of a worse-than-expected festive period. Following muted performances by rivals Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, a resurgent Tesco revealed its strongest sales [...]
RBS reshuffle looms ahead of Libor fines January 10, 2013 SENIOR RBS bankers are likely to lose their jobs over the Libor-fixing scandal as the state-backed institution looks to satisfy investors, politicians and the public that individuals have been punished, it emerged yesterday. Investment bank boss John Hourican and markets head Peter Nielsen are believed to be potential casualties. Neither was involved in Libor fixing, [...]
Wanted: more advisers to deliver a Royal Mail sale January 10, 2013 THE investment banks are on board and now the next stage ahead of the ultimate privatisation of the Royal Mail is about to be sorted; the appointment of a financial public relations team that will sell a deal to the City via the financial media. Various firms, including City heavyweight RLM Finsbury, are vying to [...]
FTSE 100 edges up as retailers in spotlight January 10, 2013 After hitting a four-year high during trading yesterday, the FTSE 100 continued its momentum this morning and was trading modestly up, with supermarket giant Tesco an early leader. This morning the supermarket posted its strongest UK growth over three years, as it said like for like UK sales were up by 1.8 per cent over [...]
Best of the Brokers January 9, 2013 JOHN WOOD GROUP Goldman Sachs upgraded the oil and gas services company to “buy” from “neutral” and raised the target price by 28p to 940p yesterday, following “recent underperformance”. According to the analyst, the company contains a lucrative combination of relatively low risk, growth and high cash flow. John Wood is likely to benefit from [...]
The business case for a referendum on EU membership January 9, 2013 IN ALL likelihood, David Cameron will soon commit to holding an in-out referendum on Britain’s EU membership. Unsurprisingly, this has provoked a campaign against giving people a say on who ultimately governs us. There are two arguments. First, that “now is not the right time”, because speculation about the possibility of a referendum would create [...]