Wealth destruction the new normal August 23, 2011 WEALTH preservation is now the name of the game in the West. The challenge, for most people, is not to make more money: it is to try and preserve what they have. Declining equity and property prices, ultra-low interest rates, lowish pay rises, elevated inflation and increasing taxes are combining to squeeze nearly everybody. This [...]
GOODMANS RAISES THE STEAKS IN MAYFAIR August 23, 2011 CONTINUING the theme of the boom in the City’s resurgent restaurant scene, as reported yesterday, The Capitalist hears steakhouse Goodmans is plotting not one but two launches for November. One is a traditional Goodmans restaurant on the South Quay at Canary Wharf to complement the City and Mayfair venues. The other marks a new direction [...]
UKCPT profit and net asset values slide August 23, 2011 UK COMMERCIAL Property Trust, the largest UK-focused trust of its kind, has announced a slight decline in its net asset value per share in the first half of 2011 to 76.9p, from 77p in the previous six months, as a slow economic recovery continued to take its toll. In its half-year results the trust said [...]
John Lewis: We will buck Xmas gloom August 22, 2011 John Lewis said it would outperform a falling retail market this Christmas, benefiting from the strength of its presence in the capital and investment, particularly in Internet shopping. Andrew Murphy, retail director at the department store chain, said UK consumers were feeling cautious and vulnerable amid government cutbacks, rising prices and fears the economy could [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 22, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES LLOYDS LOOKS TO EASE DISPOSAL Lloyds Banking Group is in early talks with the City regulator about easing the capital burden for prospective buyers of some of its branches in an effort to remove one of the biggest obstacles to the sale. It hopes to pave the way for a bidder to qualify [...]
Shops closing shutters as custom drops August 21, 2011 FEWER Britons are going shopping, triggering the closure of an increasing number of stores, new figures show today. There was a one per cent drop in footfall – the number of people visiting shops – between May and July compared with the same period last year. The figures from the British Retail Consortium and analysts Springboard [...]
Jupiter to give first interim dividend August 19, 2011 Fund manager Jupiter has pledged its maiden interim dividend after pre-tax profits more than doubled in half-year to end-June despite a slowdown in the pace of new business as shaky stock markets rattle investors. Jupiter, one of the UK’s largest retail investment fund managers with most of its assets invested in equity, will pay a [...]
Sportmaster looks to float in London in spite of turbulence August 18, 2011 RUSSIA’S largest sports equipment and clothes retailer Sportmaster is considering an initial public offering in London next year, financial market sources said yesterday. Sportmaster could attract up to $700m (£424m) in the IPO based on its own valuation of between $2.5bn and $3bn, the sources said, adding the retailer has not yet picked organisers for [...]
Global growth fears drain confidence from markets August 18, 2011 Renewed fears over spluttering global economic growth dragged back world markets with commodity and financial stocks suffering in the increasingly bleak climate. Morgan Stanley cut its forecast for global growth, citing “recent policy errors” in the US and Europe, plus prospects of further fiscal tightening in 2012. MSCI’s world equity index fell 0.8 per cent [...]
Train ticket prices to rise by up to 13pc August 16, 2011 RAIL commuters will face inflation-busting hikes in ticket prices next year, which could see some fares rise by as much as 13 per cent, following the release of latest inflation figures yesterday. Under the revised scheme, which was set out in the Treasury’s spending review last October, regulated fares such as season tickets will rise [...]