Zlota 44 is the tallest residential building in Warsaw and it’s hoping to catch the eye of Western investors February 25, 2016 For millionaire investors, the obvious place to buy for profit is in one of Europe’s great cities. But the bright lights of London, Paris and Berlin may be blinding buyers to smaller pockets of investment that have big potential. One of these is Poland. After years of building it up, the Poles now boast the largest [...]
Countrywide blames volatile residential sales market for 40 per cent drop in profits February 25, 2016 Britain's largest residential property services group Countrywide suffered a 40 per cent slump in profits last year after a slowdown in house sales following the General Election and increasing competition from online agents took its toll on the group. The company, which owns 50 high street brands including Hamptons, Blundells and John D Wood, said pre-tax profits slumped to £47.7m in [...]
How challenger banks and P2P lenders can work together – Harriet Green asks OakNorth’s Rishi Khosla February 25, 2016 Alongside the P2P lenders and crowdfunding platforms, challenger banks have continued to make their mark as leaders of the alternative finance revolution. One of those challengers is OakNorth, which launched last year. Sitting in a similar space to P2P lenders in terms of loan size, co-founder Rishi Khosla tells me that: “we really want to be [...]
Equity crowdfunding: What motivates an investor? February 25, 2016 How do retail investors really make decisions when investing through crowdfunding platforms? A new paper, released today by the London School of Economics, sheds some light. The focus is whether equity crowdfunding provides a robust alternative to financing entrepreneurship. To answer this, authors Saul Estrin and Susanna Khavul have looked at the rationality of investor behaviour, [...]
Shopping centre giant Westfield pushes ahead with $10.5bn expansion as annual profits rise February 24, 2016 Westfield Corporation, the Australian shopping centre behemoth that owns two of London’s biggest malls, delivered upbeat results for 2015, in its first full-year since splitting its empire into two. The retail landlord, which spun off its Australian and New Zealand operations into a separate business in 2014 to focus on its growing international business, made [...]
Crossrail’s new name confuses New Yorkers after a woman named Elizabeth Line finds overnight fame February 24, 2016 The project formerly known as Crossrail was rebranded the Elizabeth Line yesterday, in deference to her maj, but the news has caused unexpected confusion in the states. Elizabeth Line, a 40-year old businesswoman from New York, was flattered to wake up this morning and discovering London's newest addition to the underground had been named after her, too. [...]
EU referendum: HSBC has warned a Brexit will create a labour shortage, ramp up food and retail prices and harm banking industry February 24, 2016 It's safe to say HSBC has come off the fence when it comes to Brexit, predicting what can only be described as a Brexocalypse. Just don't try saying that out loud. The bank, which recently committed to staying in the UK, has issued a note warning that the UK leaving the European Union would have [...]
Airbus full year results miss expectations but hikes dividend as chief executive Tom Enders hails a “solid performance” February 24, 2016 Civil aviation and defence company Airbus has reported net profit rose by 15 per cent over the course of 2015 to €2.7bn (£2.1bn), while sales were up by six per cent to €64.5bn. The numbers came in just below analyst expectations but Airbus still managed to eke out at dividend rise of eight per cent [...]
City Moves for 24 February 2016 | Who’s switching jobs February 24, 2016 GN2 Tim Warren has joined central London property firm GN2 after nearly eight years at Cluttons LLP to lead in the expansion of their investment advisory offer. Tim has over 23 years’ experience and has been appointed director and head of the central London sales & investment team, based in the West End. Tim will [...]
Powa layoffs off 74 of around 100 London employees after entering administration February 23, 2016 Powa Technologies, once billed by its chief executive Dan Wagner as the future biggest tech company in the world, has made 74 of its London employees redundant after burning through its massive cash pile. Powa Technologies Group was placed into administration on Friday, appointing Deloitte to oversee a potential sale after lead investor Wellington Management called in its loans. [...]