Halfords eyes more acquisitions as profit surges June 10, 2010 HALFORDS is targeting more acquisitions with a hit list of up to a dozen targets. The company said it was hungry for expansion as it posted a 27 per cent jump in annual profit. Halfords, which in February bought British car servicing firm Nationwide Autocentres for £73m, made a pre-tax profit of £117m for the [...]
Halfords eyes new deals as profit surges June 10, 2010 HALFORDS is plotting more acquisitions with a hit list of up to a dozen targets. The bicycle and car parts company said it was hungry for expansion as it posted a 27 per cent jump in its annual profit yesterday. Halfords, which in February bought car servicing firm Nationwide Autocentres for £73m, made a pre-tax [...]
Persimmon wary despite sales rise July 6, 2010 HOUSE builder Persimmon reported higher sales and improved debt for the first half of the year, but said consumer uncertainty following the election and the emergency Budget had dampened its outlook. The country’s largest house builder by market value said legal completions on properties in the first half increased by 16 per cent to 4,657 [...]
Property prices drop in June July 8, 2010 HOUSE prices in Britain dropped 0.6 per cent in June, the third successive monthly fall, a survey from mortgage lender Halifax has shown. Halifax said the decline was a continuation of a trend since the start of this year and was in line with its view that house prices would be broadly flat over 2010 [...]
Property prices drop in June July 8, 2010 HOUSE prices in Britain dropped 0.6 per cent in June, the third successive monthly fall, a survey from mortgage lender Halifax has shown. Halifax said the decline was a continuation of a trend since the start of this year and was in line with its view that house prices would be broadly flat over 2010 [...]
Battle of the banks July 8, 2010 SOME OF the City’s most powerful names are gearing up for an almighty bidding battle over state-controlled banking assets including Northern Rock and parts of Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyd’s of London chairman Lord Levene and City grandee Sir David Walker will take on Richard Branson’s Virgin money in a fight to create a new nationwide [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS May 13, 2010 POST OFFICE HAS NEW GROWTH BOND The Post Office has just launched a new growth bond, which offers one-, two- and three-year terms and with rates up to 4.10 per cent AER. The Growth Bond Issue 12 has a minimum opening deposit of £500 and a maximum of £1m. But additional deposits aren’t allowed and [...]
HOUSE PRICES RISE FURTHER IN APRIL April 29, 2010 HOUSE prices rose one per cent in April according to Nationwide, in spite of concerns about a double-dip slump in the UK housing market. The upwardly-revised March figure of one per cent fully offset the dip in February. The annual change is now at 10.5 per cent, the first double-digit annual rise since June 2007.
House price recovery set to continue April 26, 2010 ECONOMISTS are awaiting the latest data on house prices from Nationwide due this Thursday after property data company Hometrack yesterday said prices in England and Wales rose by an annual 1.8 per cent in April – their fastest pace of increase since January 2008. The City is watching for further signs of a strengthening housing [...]
WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR BOTH UK RETAIL SALES AND CONSUMER SPENDING? May 16, 2010 PHILIP SHAW | INVESTEC “Our suspicion is that pre-election jitters could have had a negative impact on shoppers, as it appears to have had in the Nationwide measure of consumer confidence. We are pencilling in decline of 0.5 per cent on the month but would warn that the monthly series is unpredictable.” PETER DIXON | [...]