A recovery built on bricks and mortar January 12, 2014 Bovis chief executive David Ritchie tells Elizabeth Fournier why he’s not concerned about a new UK housing bubble THE LAST 12 months have been good ones for Britain’s housebuilders. After a financial crisis that saw billions wiped off the sector as credit dried up and house prices crashed, 2013 saw a return to form as [...]
Grainger sales double as market speeds up February 6, 2014 THE UK’s largest listed residential landlord Grainger posted a strong start to the year, with sales more than doubling in the first four months thanks to a one-off disposal and the improving housing market. Group sales increased by 131 per cent to £149.3m compared with £64.6m during the same period last year after the group [...]
Carney: House price boom set to end in 2016 January 15, 2014 BANK of England governor Mark Carney expects the recent surge in the property market to cool by 2016, as figures today confirm that house sales have returned to levels last seen in early 2008. The governor said that he is projecting “a continuation of the current momentum into 2014, before decelerating around the middle of [...]
Osborne’s great British sell-off January 7, 2014 MEMBERS of the public and businesses will today be offered the chance to buy government land and property on the open market, a landmark change designed to raise money for Treasury coffers and free up space to build new homes. The scheme, announced today by chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, will see a [...]
Warburg Pincus plants flag in ETF industry after buying stake from investment banks January 20, 2014 US PRIVATE equity giant Warburg Pincus made its first foray into the increasingly competitive world of exchange traded funds (ETF) yesterday by taking a majority stake in fund provider Source. The buyout house, which also owns half of Santander Asset Management, has bought a 51 per cent stake in the ETF business from its five [...]
Huge growth in new buyers leads Christie’s to record year January 22, 2014 HISTORIC auction house Christie’s sold more than £4.54bn worth of art and antiques during 2013 as booming numbers of first-time buyers led the firm to a record year of sales. Christie’s, founded in London in 1766, saw the number of new buyers increase 30 per cent last year. In total, these newcomers accounted for 22 [...]
Does snow explain Canada’s job losses? January 10, 2014 Many economists have just put the shock disappointment of the US December jobs report down to the extreme weather the country's been seeing. But, as Sebastien Galy of Societe Generale highlights, Canada's economists are presumably better used to shutdown linked to cold weather. "I remember quite well Hydro Quebec’s electric lines collapsing under the weight [...]
Fancy a brew? Annabel Palmer talks craft beer with Draft House’s Charlie McVeigh March 10, 2014 Draft House founder Charlie McVeigh talks about the perils of the hospitality industry, and how he’s taking advantage of Britain’s real ale renaissance A CRAFT beer revolution has taken hold in Britain. Consumption of independently-brewed beer rose by 22.3m pints to 415m pints in 2012, according to the Society of Independent Brewers. And figures suggest [...]
Carl Icahn tells Tim Cook: Apple share price dramatically undervalued October 9, 2014 Infamous activist investor Carl Icahn has published in full a letter to Apple urging Chief Tim Cook and board executives to buyback shares. Icahn tweeted yesterday about the letter to Cook hinting "Believe it will be interesting." In the letter, Icahn said Apple was "dramatically undervalued in today's market" and that "the more shares repurchased [...]
How one private equity firm’s giving Tilney another chance February 27, 2014 One of the UK’s oldest financial service institutions is back on the scene. RJ Tilney, which was founded in 1836 by brothers Robert and George, was a financial powerhouse in its native Liverpool back in the day but its name vanished in 2009 when German owners Deutsche Bank rebranded the company as Deutsche Bank Private [...]