Bellway set for revenue bump despite Brexit jitters February 7, 2019 Bellway said this morning that it was expecting a rise is sales over the year ahead, despite echoing the cautious sentiment over Brexit from many of its peers within the property industry. Buoyed by demand for affordable homes and government schemes such as Help-to-Buy, Bellway said in a trading update this morning that it expected total [...]
Segro appoints Mondelez chocolate boss Mary Barnard to the board February 6, 2019 Property group Segro today said it has appointed a veteran of confectionery company Mondelez to its board. Mary Barnard, who is currently president of European chocolate for Mondelez, will take up the position of non-executive director from the beginning of March. Read more: Segro rent soars amid rising e-commerce demand for warehouse space The British [...]
Munich Re boosts profit despite impact from typhoons and fires February 6, 2019 Reinsurance titan Munich Re today said it had beaten profit targets for 2018, delivering profit of €2.3bn (£2.02bn) during the year. Gross written premium stayed flat at €49.064bn Munich’s reinsurance business contributed €1.74bn to the consolidated result in 2018 and the operating result leapt from €73m to €2.464bn. Gross written premiums fell slightly to €31.286bn. [...]
Redrow hails record profit as founder bows out on a high February 6, 2019 Housebuilder Redrow hailed record half-year profits before tax this morning, striking a resilient tone despite fears of greater uncertainty over Britain's imminent departure from the EU and a “subdued” Christmas. The figures In Steve Morgan’s final trading statement as chairman, the FTSE 250 developer said that pre-tax profits rose five per cent to £185m in [...]
Barratt Developments builds profit in strong first half February 6, 2019 The UK’s largest housebuilder Barratt Developments boosted its profit before tax 19 per cent in the first half of its financial year. Barratt said its profit before tax stood at £408m in the six months to 31 January, with revenue growing seven per cent to £2.13bn and total completions rising four per cent to 7,622 [...]
Will Wirecard wave goodbye to the DAX? February 5, 2019 Questions are being asked about whether Wirecard AG deserves its generous valuation – and it’s newly won place in the DAX – following allegations of fraud. Munich-based fintech company Wirecard unseated Commerzbank – a stalwart of the DAX since 1988 – to become a member of the DAX in September 2018. The firm won its [...]
Odeon director Welch joins Hammerson board February 5, 2019 Shopping centre landlord Hammerson has appointed Odeon director Carol Welch to its board. The move, which comes as Hammerson embarks on a radical overhaul of its business, follows on from last week’s announcement that former Argos boss Terry Duddy was stepping down from the board in the wake of his new role at Debenhams as interim chairman. [...]
The trade war in your head? A look behind the US-China feud February 5, 2019 As the US-China talks resume this week, the spectre of global trade disintegration on looms ever larger. There is one month for Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to strike a deal before the 90-day ceasefire in tit-for-tat rhetoric expires. At stake is $200bn of Chinese exports to the US, which will otherwise see tariffs rise [...]
China’s success among western firms will depend on the desirability of the brand February 5, 2019 Not a week goes by when there isn’t a data print-out of China posting the weakest number since… well pick a year. Last Friday, for example, the Caixin manufacturing survey posted a second consecutive month of contraction and the lowest reading since 2016. The slowdown has triggered a set of 2019 growth downgrades from the analyst [...]
City Moves for 5 February – who’s switching jobs at eGym, Real Estate Management and BSI? February 5, 2019 Who’s on the move today? eGym Sir George W. Buckley, the former chief executive of 3M, is joining the Munich-based sports technology company eGym as its chairman. Founded in 2010 in Munich, eGym uses a combination of connected gym equipment and cloud-based software to provide a fully data- and software-driven gym experience. Sir George steered [...]