Rapid Responses October 3, 2012 Attack on property I’m a chartered surveyor working in London, and I was recently informed that Newham Council has decided to introduce mandatory blanket licensing of all rental properties in the borough. Letting agents or private landlords must pay £150 if they apply for a license by the end of the year. Afterwards, a five-year [...]
Sainsbury’s boosted by online and convenience sales October 3, 2012 Sainsbury’s beat expectations to post a 4.3 per cent increase in total sales over the quarter this morning, thanks to strong growth in convenience stores and online. The food retailer opened 49 new convenience stores over the first half of the year, while the online business posted growth of over 20 per cent year on [...]
Tesco posts 10.5 per cent profit drop October 3, 2012 Tesco posted a 10.5 per cent drop in first-half trading profit this morning. Over the six months to 25 August, profit came in at to £1.6bn. A £1bn capital investment programme, to stem a decline in market share to chains such as Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, was largely responsible for the firm’s first fall in [...]
FTSE swings lower as rumours of Spanish bailout spook investors October 2, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index continued its choppy trend and was pulled marginally lower yesterday, as weakness in banks and miners overpowered results-related gains for companies such as Babcock and Tesco. The FTSE 100 closed down 11.00 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,809.45. The index has swung in a 100-point range over the last five [...]
The Tipster | Bookmaker to pay over the odds October 1, 2012 ATTENTION will be focused on William Hill this week. The UKs largest bookmaker has recently been told that a £350m offer for Sportingbet “significantly undervalues” the online sports betting company. With Sportingbet due to report tomorrow, investors will be closely monitoring whether William Hill is likely to pay over the odds. Spread Co quotes a [...]
Auto-enrolment begins to shake up UK pensions September 30, 2012 BUSINESS lobbies, unions, and pension funds have backed pensions minister Steve Webb’s auto-enrolment scheme, as it is rolled out this morning. From today, firms with more than 120,000 employees must enrol all staff in a pension scheme, and by 2018 all employees earning enough to pay national insurance will have to be put in a [...]
Tesco set to post profit fall but recovery in UK trading September 30, 2012 TESCO is set to post its first profit fall in almost 20 years this week, despite seeing a recovery in recent trading, as the supermarket fights to turn itself around after a shock profit warning in January. Analysts at Jefferies expect an improvement in second quarter trading, with like-for-like sales down 0.2 per cent compared [...]
Banks to announce interest rates days after key economic indicators September 30, 2012 THE first day of the month brings with it September’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) manufacturing data for the UK and Eurozone. Last month’s UK figures painted a rosier-than-expected picture of the sector, although the Eurozone figures were disappointing. The news will be followed up tomorrow by construction data from the PMI, although FirstGroup’s trading update [...]
Tesco displaying recovery signs after its shock profit warning September 25, 2012 TESCO, the world’s third biggest retailer, said a recovery plan to recapture home market share was making an impact after a shock profit warning, backing up industry data showing evidence of success in its fight-back against rivals. Once one of the most consistent British companies in terms of earnings growth, Tesco stunned investors in January [...]
Dairy Crest’s half-year profits to fall as it pays more for milk September 24, 2012 DAIRY Crest warned of lower half-year profits yesterday as its core milk business continued to face “unprecedented market conditions”. But the milk supplier left its profit forecasts for 2013 unchanged. Dairy Crest also became the latest milk supplier to increase the price it pays farmers for their milk following July’s protests. The company, which buys [...]