The Tipster | Safe as housebuilders February 25, 2013 WHILE revenues are likely to be flat, traders expect Barratt Developments to report improvements in its margins tomorrow, which should help to boost profit levels. But the property developer’s shares have surged by nearly 70 per cent over the last year, leading some to declare that most of the good news is already priced in. Capital [...]
RBS and Lloyds results look set to show losses February 24, 2013 STATE-BACKED banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are both expected to announce full-year results this week, with analysts forecasting both lenders will remain loss-making. Investec believes RBS, which will deliver its 2012 figures on Thursday, will announce an attributable loss of £2.2bn for the final quarter – or a £5.6bn loss for [...]
Housebuilder Bovis predicts forecast-beating profits January 18, 2013 Bovis Homes today added to buoyant housebuilder sentiment as it forecast that profit for 2012 would be ahead of market expectations. A 15 per cent increase in legal completions to 2,355 over the year, a five per cent jump in the average sales price to £170,700 and a “significant” increase in profit margins will all [...]
Best of the Brokers January 17, 2013 BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS UBS has raised its target price on the housebuilder from 210p to 250p and maintained its “buy” recommendation after first half results in line with expectations. The broker expects further margin improvements as profit and loss contributions from recent land acquisitions increases, and expects the group to be debt free by 2015. UBS [...]
Barratt to build 1,000 homes as profits increase January 16, 2013 BARRATT Developments yesterday revealed plans to build 1,000 homes in London after acquiring two sites in Southwark and Surrey Quays worth a total of £400m. The UK’s largest housebuilder announced the two projects as it delivered an upbeat forecast for 2013 with operating profit expected to rise 31 per cent to £80m. In a trading [...]
Profit doubles at Barratt January 16, 2013 Pre-tax profit at housebuilder Barratt more than “doubled” over the second half of last year, it said in a trading update today. Barratt Developments, the UK’s biggest housebuilder, said it expected to deliver a 108 per cent jump in pre-tax profit of £45m for the six months to December, up from £21.6m over the same [...]
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) [...]
City Moves for 7 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 7, 2013 SJ Berwin The law firm has announced the appointment of Steven Fogel to its partnership board and as a non-executive director. He was previously senior partner of Titmuss Sainer, and led the law firm in its merger with Dechert. Fogel then served as managing partner of Dechert’s London office before retiring in June 2012. He [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching jobs November 18, 2012 Boost ETP The investment product provider has appointed Richard Kent (right) as head of product operations and Jose Poncela as senior in-house counsel. Kent joins from UBS, where he was a director in its equity and fund-linked derivatives team. He has also worked for Barclays Capital. Poncela has held roles at Nomura International, UBS and [...]
Barratt eyes higher profits November 14, 2012 BARRATT Developments yesterday said it was on track for higher profits this financial year as its focus on higher-margin sites, rather than volumes, pays off in a tough market. The UK’s largest housebuilder said market conditions had remained stable since July, but it highlighted that recent government schemes aimed at easing mortgage lending had yet [...]