JJB pledges support for Jones in spat July 7, 2009 AILING sportswear retailer JJB Sports yesterday backed its executive chairman Sir David Jones amid a growing storm over a £1.5m loan he received from Mike Ashley, chief executive of arch-rival Sports Direct. JJB Sports said that the board had given its “unanimous support” to Jones and said it believes “that he is the right person [...]
The property boss who can see the light at the end of the tunnel July 5, 2009 The airy offices of Knight Frank chairman Nick Thomlinson are as good a place as any to survey the wreckage of the property market over the last two years. So it can only be good news that the head of the UK’s largest privately-owned property business shows no sign of panic as he holds court [...]
Rural homes near London see price rise July 5, 2009 PRIME country properties around London saw prices rising by 0.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 after five consecutive quarters of falls, according to the Knight Frank/ City A.M. prime commuter property price index. For the UK as a whole, the average value of prime country property fell by 0.9 per cent over [...]
Carpathian restructuring deal gets the green light July 2, 2009 PROPERTY investor Carpathian said yesterday it has successfully completed a debt restructuring of €235m (£203m) with German lender Hypo Real Estate. The transaction represents about 56 per cent of the total debt of £417.1m within the group as at 31 December 2008, the company said, stabilising the majority of its portfolio, which was previously under [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 1, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES SCRAPPAGE INCENTIVES REVIVE CAR DEMAND Car sales rose in several big European and Asian markets last month, lifted largely by government scrapping incentives aimed at reviving consumer demand. The numbers give weight to the notion that stimulus measures are pulling the global motor industry out of its deep downturn, but carmakers and industry [...]
PwC: Six companies eyeing LDV June 30, 2009 Administrators for van maker LDV said yesterday at least six companies are still considering investing in the company. PricewaterhouseCoopers said an announcement was likely at the end of July over the future of the firm and what suppliers would receive. LDV went into administration last month after white knights WestStar pulled out, saying they couldn’t [...]
EU may force banks to sell off divisions June 30, 2009 LLOYDS Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland may be forced to dispose of assets in order to meet EU antitrust rules, the European competition commissioner warned yesterday. Speaking at the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) annual conference, Neelie Kroes said that the two banks had an unfair competitive advantage as a result of receiving state [...]
Home lending still difficult, warns Bank June 29, 2009 MORTGAGE lending saw its weakest rise on record last month, according to the Bank of England, signalling the squeeze on home lending is far from over, despite recent signs that the property slump could be levelling out. The number of home loan approvals rose for the fourth consecutive month in May, climbing from 43,191 in [...]
Knight urges caution over bank reforms June 29, 2009 FORCING large banks to shrink would damage the UK economy, the chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) Angela Knight warned yesterday. Speaking to City A.M. ahead of today’s annual BBA international banking conference, Knight said the BBA would not support any move to scale down large banks and urged governments not to rush [...]
City’s Goldfinger vaults for sale June 28, 2009 The former City headquarters of Midland bank, whose vaults featured in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, has been put up for sale by administrators. This comes just two-and-a-half years after it was bought by former Russian deputy finance minister Vladimir Chernukhin, who acquired the listed plot, next to the Bank of England, for £72m. [...]