Serco share price plummets after profit warning November 10, 2014 Outsourcing firm Serco sent share prices tumbling by almost 33 per cent yesterday, after issuing a profit warning and revealing that it was seeking to raise up to £550m with a rights issue in the first quarter of 2015. The company announced that its forecast profit for 2014 had been reduced by approximately £20m, [...]
Redrow warns of slowdown as housing boom spurred by Help-to-Buy fades away November 10, 2014 HOUSEBUILDER Redrow warned yesterday it has seen a drop in sales over the summer as the effects of the government’s Help-to-Buy scheme began to wear off. Chairman Steve Morgan said the demand for new homes generated by the launch of the equity loan scheme in 2013 reverted to “a more normal level of activity” in [...]
Bank’s inflation report to give clues on rates – London Week November 9, 2014 MARKET attention this week will focus on the Bank of England’s Inflation Report, due for release on Wednesday, and the latest set of macroeconomic projections contained within it. The figures will help investors and analysts to determine just how far market expectations for the first hike in the interest rate have been pushed back. The [...]
Secrets of London part II: Our homebuyer’s guide reveals more hidden gems October 3, 2014 In the second part of our series on hidden London, we reveal the secrets and ancient artefacts living side-by-side with some London’s newest and most innovative residential architecture. Here are just some of the treasures future homeowners will be living alongside, including Ernest Hemingway’s favourite riverside pub in London, a tribute to the [...]
City Moves for 19 September 2014 | Who’s switching jobs September 18, 2014 Barbican Centre Trust Emma Kane has been appointed chairman of the charitable arm of the Barbican Centre. She has worked in corporate and financial PR for over 25 years, and is founder and chief executive of Redleaf PR. Kane is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and board director of Grange Park Opera. [...]
Housebuilder Redrow posts record profits September 2, 2014 REDROW posted record sales and profits yesterday after government measures designed to stimulate the housing market boosted the firm’s number of completions last year by 27 per cent. The Flintshire-based housebuilder said it completed 3,597 sales in the 12 months to 30 June, compared with 2,827 the previous year thanks to the government’s Help-to-Buy scheme, [...]
Planning laws are a threat to this house-building bull run – Bottom Line September 2, 2014 Rising revenues and climbing profits have become par for the course for British house-builders this summer. Redrow was the latest to post a bullish update yesterday, boosted by the coalition’s controversial Help-to-Buy programme which effectively uses taxpayer cash to prop up cash-poor house-hunters. But despite this gift to construction firms’ bottom lines, the government is [...]
UK property market: Redrow share price rises as it posts 91 per cent profit increase September 2, 2014 Despite recent signs of slowing growth in house prices, housebuilders are still riding a healthy property market wave – Redrow is the latest to post stellar results, with a 91 per cent rise in profits. Help to Buy helped the housebuilder make a record £132.6m pre-tax profit for the year to June, compared with £69.4m [...]
London Report: Economic data to show UK recovery on a steady course August 31, 2014 ECONOMIC data due this week appears to show continuing steady growth in the UK’s economy, with little chance of an interest rate rise when the Bank of England announces its latest decision on Thursday. Mortgage approvals data for July, due today, may have dipped slightly, but analysts expect this weakness to be temporary. Meanwhile manufacturing [...]
London Report: FTSE is bolstered by doveish Bank data and thin trading August 13, 2014 THE FTSE yesterday ended slightly higher in thin trade, boosted by a doveish message from the Bank of England. Britain’s leading index closed 24.26 points higher, or 0.4 per cent, at 6,656.68 points after a choppy session marked by low trading activity. Shares in G4S, the world’s biggest security company, led advances, up 5.3 per [...]