Capital & Counties asset value boosted by Covent Garden site August 3, 2011 CAPITAL & Counties, the London focused property developer, posted a four per cent rise in the value of its assets, boosted by an increase in value of its Covent Garden estate. Net asset value per share rose four per cent to 154p, while pre-tax profit was up 28 per cent at £70.2m from £54.8m a [...]
FTSE takes a battering on recovery fears August 3, 2011 Energy companies took a hammering in London today as a renewed investor focus on global economic fragility saw a flight to safety across Europe. The FTSE 100 retreated more than 133 points or 2.3 per cent to close at 5,584.51, levels not seen since November 2010, after confidence in sovereign debt fell again and investors [...]
Service sector growth at four month high August 3, 2011 Activity in the country’s dominant services sector grew at its fastest pace in four months in July on strong growth in new business, raising hopes that the economy may pick up despite recent dire news from manufacturers and retailers. However, the services firms also cut jobs, and banks and consumer-facing sectors suffered a drop in [...]
Diamond calls for UK growth August 2, 2011 THE head of Barclays has called on the government to deliver a plan for growth based on a renewed faith in the private sector, warning that the economy is being strangled by a crisis in confidence. Speaking at Barclays’ half-year results, chief executive Bob Diamond said that the UK is ahead of others in tackling [...]
Capital Shopping Centres spree helps boost profits August 2, 2011 CAPITAL Shopping Centres (CSC), the UK’s biggest shopping mall owner, said its half-year profits rose by 53 per cent, buoyed by the £1.6bn acquisition of Manchester’s Trafford Centre in January. Footfall across its 14 shopping centres increased by three per cent while net rental income rose by six per cent year-on-year, thanks to an increase [...]
Hammerson dodges UK gloom to post sales rise August 1, 2011 HAMMERSON, one of Britain’s largest retail landlords, has brushed off challenges in the retail market, reporting a 1.9 per cent rise in like-for-like sales across its shopping centres in their half-year results yesterday. David Atkins, Hammerson’s chief executive, said the group had seen “little impact” from the rise in retailers going into administration despite the [...]
Hammerson brushes off retail woes August 1, 2011 Anglo-French shopping centre owner Hammerson reported a 5.1 per cent rise in net asset value and flat underlying profit for the first half, seeing little impact from the recent rise in the number of UK retailers going into administration. The UK’s third-largest real estate investment trust, which owns or co-owns some of Europe’s most popular [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 1, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES SUPER RICH TO GET NEW LONDON ADDRESS A leading European hedge fund is preparing to build one of London’s most expensive housing developments as global investors scramble to gain a foothold in the capital’s resurgent residential market. In a deal completed over the weekend, Orion Capital Managers acquired an acre of prime residential [...]
Banking on surprising the markets July 31, 2011 THIS week sees the release of interim figures from a number of UK banks, and few are holding out hope for particularly strong results. A generally weak UK economy that grew an anaemic 0.2 per cent in the second quarter, coupled with concerns about the risk of UK bank exposure to possible European default, have [...]
Learning from the Olympics of Vancouver July 31, 2011 LEARNING from the past is the path to progress and so Vancouver’s experience of hosting the Winter Olympics in 2010 has a lot to teach us. Despite the inevitable challenges, it was warmly and roundly considered a great success, with most businesses ready and willing to adapt and benefit from the unique opportunities afforded by [...]