Barratt shares fall despite assurances it’s confident in the face of Brexit July 13, 2016 That sad "wah, wah, waaah" trombone you heard this morning was coming from the general direction of housebuilder Barratt, which attempted to restore investor confidence with assurances over Brexit – only to have its shares drop anyway. In a statement this morning the company, whose shares have fallen almost 30 per cent since the result [...]
Berkeley Group chairman Tony Pidgley backs Remain as the housebuilder’s revenues fall June 15, 2016 Berkeley group's chairman, the venerable Tony Pidgley, has backed the Remain side as the company announced this morning that its revenue had fallen. The figures Revenues fell at the UK housebuilder from £2.12bn to £2.05bn in the year to April 30. Pre-tax profits were also down, from £539.7m to £530.9m. The company said that there is "robust underlying demand" but [...]
House of Fraser posts first profit in a decade April 13, 2016 House of Fraser has posted a return to profit for the first time since 2006, as the venerable department store business goes from strength to strength under its Chinese parent. The figures Sales were up 4.2 per cent to £1.3bn for the year to 30 January, with online sales up 26.8 per cent. They now account [...]
Javid to fly to India to meet with Tata chiefs, after back-to-back talks with unions and a potential buyer April 5, 2016 Business secretary Sajid Javid will meet with executives of Port Talbot steelworks owner Tata at their Mumbai headquarters tomorrow. The meetings will be the latest in a chain of talks for Javid, who earlier met with the potential buyer of Port Talbot, Liberty House chief executive Sanjeev Gupta. He is expected to urge Tata bosses [...]
Foxtons reaps the rewards as house buyers scramble to complete ahead of stamp duty deadline – but how long will the party last? April 27, 2016 Foxton's has posted impressive-looking results for the quarter to the end of March. But shares slid as investors showed their nerves over new buy to let rules. The figures Total group revenues rose to £38.4m during the period, up 16.2 per cent from the same quarter last year. That was pushed up by a 28.5 per cent increase in property [...]
It’s been a bumper year for stock markets – but how good was 2016 really? December 20, 2016 “Some investors have quipped that it took days for the markets to digest the UK referendum outcome, hours to come to terms with Donald Trump as President-Elect and minutes to assess Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s resignation,” Mark Haefele, global chief investment officer at UBS Wealth Management, told clients last week. It has been a [...]
Barratt predicts “significant improvement” as help to buy boosts housebuilding May 11, 2016 Barratt is showing no signs of suffering from the slowdown in property sales, with the housebuilder today confidently forecasting "a significant improvement in performance for the full year" thanks to help to buy. The figures The 19 weeks to 8 May have been "strong", with total forward sales, including joint ventures, up by 9.7 per cent to £2,8bn. Net [...]
UK house prices to outstrip wages this year due to “chronic lack of properties being put up for sale” July 20, 2015 A shortage of homes is set to ensure house prices rise faster than incomes this year, a think tank has warned today. The Centre for Economics and Business Research has revised its estimate for price growth in 2015 more than three times to 4.7 per cent, up from its initial forecast of 1.5 per cent [...]
EU referendum: Brexit risks compromising plans to build hundreds of thousands of new homes May 19, 2016 If Britain votes to leave the EU it risks sparking a chronic construction skills deficit, compromising plans to build hundreds of thousands of new homes. According to new research, a Leave vote could lead to a cut in the construction workforce, which would in turn jeopardise plans to expand the UK's housing stock that would otherwise ease [...]
Extended right to buy scheme could cost London councils just shy of £50m each May 4, 2016 Councils in London will need to fork out £49m a year on average to fund government’s planned extensions to the right to buy scheme, a report out today by Shelter has warned. Under the right to buy extension, local authorities will be forced to sell off a proportion of their vacant council house stock on the open [...]