Why housebuilders’ share prices are sinking – despite healthy industry profits March 5, 2023 If you quickly skim over the financial results of any major residential home builder you would presume that business, for the most part, is doing quite well. Just last week a flurry of housebuilding companies revealed their earnings for 2022 with major players in the market such as Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey seeing profits of [...]
Lloyds Pharmacy puts all 1,300 sites under threat of closure in another blow for post-Covid UK high street March 3, 2023 Lloyds Pharmacy has put all of its 1,300 sites at risk of closure in another major blow for the highstreet. According to reports in The Sun, the private equity owner of the embattled chemist has launched a “strategic review of its entire UK store base”. It’s understood that process could lead to a sale of [...]
HS2 could be delayed AGAIN in bid to curb ever-rising costs, project’s CEO says March 3, 2023 The HS2 rail project could be delayed among a number of potential options being considered to curb rising costs, the project’s boss has said. In an interview with the BBC, HS2 chief executive Mark Thurston said the impact of inflation on the project over the past year has been “significant… whether that’s in timber, steel, [...]
Nottingham Building Society says soaring lending ‘aided by higher interest income’ boosted profits March 3, 2023 The historic Nottingham Building Society reported strong pre-tax profits driven by a surge in mortgage lending last year. Founded in 1849, the building society this morning announced group pre-tax profits of £18.9m, with underlying pre-tax profit of £15.2m. Despite the downturn in the housing market in wake of the disastrous mini budget, it said in [...]
‘Google of the property market’ Rightmove shrugs off housing fears to post £241m profit March 3, 2023 Rightmove, the UK’s largest property portal, saw its operating profits rise seven per cent to £241m as the group revealed it was “not materially affected” by the difficult property market. The London-listed company, which lists homes for rent and sale, also saw revenues increase 9 per cent to £332.6m up from £304.9m the prior year. [...]
Top of the class: Virtual learning and adult ‘upskilling’ helps publisher Pearson boost sales to £3.1bn March 3, 2023 Publisher Pearson said sales of its textbooks and virtual learning offerings were boosted by increased demand for online learning, among adults and schools. Sales increased 12 per cent to £3,841m during the full year 2022 compared to £3,428m the previous year. Operating profit in the preliminary results were £271m, compared to £183m in 2021. This [...]
Instead of talking our economy down, we should commend its resilience over the past year March 3, 2023 If the UK economy managed to avoid two successive quarters of GDP decline last year, it will fight as hard this year. It will also win more easily, writes Savvas Savouri
Inflation in Europe rises to record high, raising spectre of steep ECB interest rate hikes March 2, 2023 European inflation is running at record levels, piling pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to keep hiking interest rates aggressively this year. The rate of core price increases bumped to a record 5.6 per cent last month, up from 5.3 per cent and up to the highest level since records began in 1999, according [...]
Explainer: Why are teachers on the picket line today? March 2, 2023 Today is the last of a three-day teachers’ strike in England and Wales. As with all the strikes we’ve grown accustomed to, this dispute is about pay. Today’s walkouts affect the South of England and Wales, with many schools in London having to close their doors. Several schools have been able to offer classes only [...]
Crypto market fluctuations continue as Bitcoin price retraces March 2, 2023 The price of Bitcoin has yet to shift this morning after starting the day at $23,800 - down by little over one per cent on yesterday.