Halifax piles on woe August 8, 2008 The drip feed of bad news for the property market continued yesterday when Britain’s biggest lender Halifax revealed that house prices have fallen back to mid-2006 levels. House prices are now 8.8 per cent lower than they were this time last year, Halifax said, with an average home in Britain costing £21,733 less than July [...]
Crazy in lobe August 13, 2008 In the world of earrings, bigger and bolder is definitely better, says Zoe Strimpel Times are changing; we’re not quite the over-mortgaging, champagne slugging society we once were. And, odd as it may sound, earrings are as good a sign of the times as any. New figures from John Lewis show sales of jewellery are [...]
More pain for homes August 1, 2008 The clouds gathering over the housing market darkened yesterday when Britain’s biggest building society reported the biggest annual drop in house prices since records began. Mortgage lender Nationwide said property values were now 8.1 per cent less than last year ago, almost a £15,000 decrease. The average cost of a home in Britain is now [...]
It is still not the time to be buying into retail stocks July 31, 2008 The European General Retail sector has fallen by about 25 per cent so far this year. But does this sharp decline in price make retail shares a good buy? We think that there are a variety of reasons to remain wary. The first reason is a depressed outlook for consumer demand. With continued worries about [...]
More firms on brink of bankruptcy July 21, 2008 The number of companies in Britain that are facing bankruptcy rose 685 per cent in the last year, new figures have revealed. Some 4,258 firms faced “critical problems” – defined as being embroiled in some kind of insolvency related legal action – in the second quarter of 2008, compared with just 542 in the same [...]
Despite the gloomy market, investors still have something to cheer about July 3, 2008 Look beyond the doom-mongering, and there is still money to be made in property, says Alex Delmar-Morgan Property is a subject close to the hearts of the British people, and many home-owners have been chuffed over the past few years to see the prices of their properties increasing at massive rates. Surely, though, even the [...]
Bradford & Bingley bankruptcy feared July 7, 2008 Fears that mortgage bank Bradford & Bingley is on the brink of bankruptcy have heightened following rating agency Moody’s decision to cut the cash strapped banks’ rating to Baa1, the lowest of any major British bank. “Our bankruptcy probability is increased to 25 per cent. UK property is 40 per cent over valued and B&B [...]
Credit Suisse swings back into the black July 25, 2008 Swiss bank Credit Suisse has returned to profit in its second quarter, thanks largely to its private banking arm. The group outstripped analysts’ predictions, recording profits of Sfr 1.2bn (£560m) in the three months to 30 June, reversing losses made in the first quarter. The figures showed a 62 per cent fall in profits year-on-year, [...]
Persimmon in mass job cull July 7, 2008 Persimmon, Britain’s most profitable housebuilder, will announce tomorrow that it is cutting 20 per cent of its workforce, in the latest mass cull to hit the beleaguered sector. Persimmon is expected to say it is making at least 1,000 redundancies in a trading update on Tuesday, as it attempts to reduce costs and ride out [...]
Next cautious after half year sales fall 6 per cent July 31, 2008 Next, the second largest clothing retailer in the UK, saw sales fall in the first half of the year and said the trend was likely to continue this year. Second quarter sales actually fared better than expected, down 2.4 per cent on the same quarter the previous year, as the warmer summer weather coaxed shoppers [...]