US non-farm payrolls: Pound up against the dollar as the number of jobs added in the US came in below forecast at 103,000 for March (GBPUSD) April 6, 2018 The US created 103,000 jobs last month as growth slowed following a strong February that had trumped expectations. This time round, the news wasn’t quite so bright, as analysts had been looking for March non-farm payrolls to come in at around 190,000 keeping the six-month average around 186,000. David Morrison, senior market strategist at GKFX, [...]
City told to “face the facts” over post-Brexit financial services trade February 8, 2018 The City has been told to “face the facts” that mutual recognition is not likely as a framework for trade after Brexit by a leading member of the Deutsche Bundesbank. Andreas Dombret, who has been on the central bank’s board since 2010, told delegates at a UK Finance conference he was “sceptical” as to whether [...]
Crossrail 2 progress stalls as independent funding review won’t wrap up until the autumn February 1, 2018 Progress on the £31bn Crossrail 2 project has stuttered, after Transport for London (TfL) said today an independent financing review sought by the government will not be completed until the autumn. It means hopes for a public consultation getting underway early this year have been dashed. TfL’s director of City Planning, Alex Williams told the [...]
Bramson betting on Barclays break-up: When did activist investors become so polite? March 23, 2018 This week’s disclosure by Ed Bramson’s Sherborne Investments of a 5.2 per cent voting stake in Barclays was accompanied by the now-usual platitudes about constructive relations with the board, spotting a company undervalued by the stock market, and so on. That’s superficially plausible: Sherborne has already made a healthy return on the stock it began [...]
London house prices: London has the highest construction costs in Europe January 6, 2016 London has the highest construction costs in Europe, and the second highest in the world, new research has shown. London came second only to New York in terms of construction costs in the annual Arcadis international construction costs index. And another financial centre, Hong Kong, took third place. It topped other European cities: Geneva (4th), Copenhagen [...]
Santander UK arm sees impairments triple after Carillion collapse but group profits rise over 2017 January 31, 2018 Losses from the collapse of Carillion dented profits at Santander’s UK arm, as profits rose across its global operations. Impairments at Santander UK tripled year-on-year to £203m, mainly reflecting loans to the outsourcer and construction firm. Carillion entered liquidation on 15 January after rescue talks with the government and lenders failed. Nathan Bostock, Santander UK [...]
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan warns of London brain drain caused by steep house prices in capital March 12, 2018 Sadiq Khan fears London businesses could be hit with a “brain drain” if staff are unable to achieve their ambition of owning a home. The London mayor has warned that top bosses see the housing crisis as the primary barrier to doing business in London. In an exclusive interview with City A.M., Khan said: “The [...]
Housebuilders remain optimistic about business growth over the next five years January 29, 2018 British housebuilders are setting ambitious growth plans as they remain optimistic about the future, despite uncertainty caused by Brexit. Confidence in the industry’s future remained relatively steady, dropping slightly to 6.9 from 7.2, with 10 representing the highest level of expectation, according to an annual report from Lloyds Bank. Despite grappling with a skills shortage [...]
nHouse founders Nick Fulford and Richard Hywel Evans on the need for modular housing in the UK May 2, 2018 While we all know what disruptive tech looks like, what does disruptive housing look like? By almost universal consent, three problems need to be addressed in the current market – affordability, sustainability and quality – and whoever conquers all three will seriously shake up the UK market. Yet architect Richard Hywel Evans thinks he, along [...]
Melrose has upped its bid for GKN – here’s how City analysts reacted March 12, 2018 Melrose Industries today confirmed a plan to boost its hostile bid for engineering giant GKN to £8.1bn from £7.4bn. GKN’s shares have edged down 0.23 per cent since the announcement this morning to 434.1p, while Melrose’s stock has sank 3.65 per cent to 216.5p. Here’s what three City analysts had to say about the latest [...]