The future of the FTSE 100: What next? The quarterly reshuffle has changed the complexion of the leading index September 23, 2015 The Bloodbath continued yesterday as mining shares plummeted further and the FTSE dipped below 6,000 points. Glencore, whose shares fell by 10.63 per cent yesterday, only graduated to the elite index in 2011, but the commodities supercycle has come to a juddering halt, depressing the internationally exposed FTSE. This week also saw one [...]
Crossrail 2: Hundreds of thousands of homes, jobs will be created by major new project – and here is the team behind it September 16, 2015 The first Crossrail is still more than two years away from completion, but the government is already planning for Crossrail 2, which it claims could "unlock up to 200,000 new homes and support 200,000 jobs across London and the South East". The government has just unveiled the team that is being charged with ensuring [...]
Best of the Brokers for 11 September 2015 September 11, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS Shore Capital reiterated its “hold” rating on the house builder after its preliminary 2015 results. “Performance is still very positive with the bulk of the improvement in profits still driven by recovering margins, strong support for new homes via help-to-buy and [...]
Building bonanza at Barratt as profits jump 45 per cent September 9, 2015 Success in the housebuilding market continues apace, after Barratt reported another jump in profits. The figures This kind of fare has become standard among housebuilders in recent years: profit before tax jumped 44.8 per cent to £565.5m in the year to the end of June, while revenues rose 19.1 per cent to £3.76bn and basic earnings per share jumped 45.8 per [...]
Bank to announce rates decision as China woes weigh – London Report September 6, 2015 THE BANK of England will be centre of attention on Thursday when it provides a simultaneous release of its monetary policy decision and minutes from its monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting. The MPC is almost certain to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.5 per cent, with worries about China and oil price declines meaning other [...]
London property focus on North Greenwich: Affordable homes by the riverside September 4, 2015 Fancy a night out in North Greenwich? No, not that one with the market, the chapels, the observatory and the ship. The other one with the O2 Arena and… not much else. It’s a hard sell, truth be told, so imagine how much harder it must be to convince someone to live there. Once a [...]
UK house prices: Persimmon share price dips despite fecund first half August 18, 2015 Another day, another housebuilder boasting impressive growth, after Persimmon said profits rose 31 per cent to £2.72.8m in the six months to the end of June. The figures You read that right: profits before tax rose 31 per cent to £272.8m, up from £208.9m last year. Meanwhile revenues rose 11 per cent to £1.3bn, while underlying earnings per share [...]
Housebuilder shares drop on “vanilla” house price growth August 18, 2015 Shares in the UK's largest listed housebuilders fell today, despite official figures showing annual house price growth rose to 5.7 per cent in June. Shares in Barratt fell 1.45 per cent to 643.5p in late morning trading, while Berkeley Group was down just under one per cent at 3,422p. Meanwhile, shares in Persimmon, which posted [...]
Housebuilder shares rise as government launches £36m fund to build first-time buyer homes on brownfield sites August 10, 2015 Shares in the UK's largest housebuilders rose today after the government unveiled two funds collectively worth £36m aimed at building homes for first-time buyers on brownfield sites. Communities secretary Greg Clark said a £26m fund will be used to acquire brownfield sites to provide land for starter homes, while another, £10m, fund is aimed at [...]
FTSE falls despite rally after Bank’s dovish rate update – London Report August 7, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index slipped yesterday, weighed down by weakness in miners and insurer RSA, though it briefly rallied off lows after a broadly dovish update from the Bank of England. The FTSE 100 index ended down 5.32 points, or 0.1 per cent lower at 6,747.09 points, turning slightly lower after a negative open on [...]