Accountants call for end to jump in stamp duty November 27, 2013 GEORGE Osborne should ease the burden of buying a house by reducing the huge jumps in stamp duty at each price threshold in next week’s Autumn Statement, leading tax adviser Baker Tilly urged yesterday. The tax adviser hopes that Osborne will follow Scotland’s lead in changing the rates at which stamp duty kicks in. Currently there [...]
Help to Buy boosts Barratt sales by 47 per cent November 13, 2013 Barratt Developments has praised the government's Help to Buy scheme for playing a large role in the rising activity in the housing market, reportinga rise in private forward sales of 46.7 per cent, or £1.1bn, for the period of July to November. The company's interim management statement, released on Tuesday, said: The Government's Help to [...]
Stamp duty cliff edge knocks £10,000 off thousands of homes December 2, 2013 THOUSANDS of home owners have had to slash the price of their house to below £250,000 to get a sale because of the impact of stamp duty, according to a report out today from London Central Portfolio and the Cass Business School. Stamp duty jumps from one per cent to three per cent at the [...]
Actual Experience prepares a £17m London public offering January 12, 2014 ANALYTICS firm Actual Experience Limited is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on London’s Alternative Investment Market at the end of the month that is set to value the company at £17m. Actual Experience (AE) works with over 40 blue-chip clients including Cisco, Ofcom and Accenture to improve the experience of staff and customers using [...]
Everything revealed in the Budget March 19, 2014 Apparently this a budget for makers, doers, and savers. But enough of the buzzwords, onto the substance. GrowthThe UK grew by three times as much as the OBR predicted at the budget last year. Now the OBR has revised its growth forecasts up. 2014 should see growth of 2.7 per cent, up from the 2.4 [...]
London Report: Under pressure Tesco to reveal crunch results December 1, 2013 TESCO’S quarterly results on Wednesday form the centrepiece of a full calendar of corporate results dominated by high street names. The supermarket, which recently saw its market share fall under 30 per cent for the first time over the last 18 months, is set to deliver disappointing numbers, according to analysts, who predict a like-for-like [...]
14 buyers fight for each house sold in London November 24, 2013 MORE than a dozen potential buyers are now battling for each property coming onto the market in London, according to an estate agent releasing new figures today. Barnard Marcus reports that there are now 14 people trying to get on the housing ladder for every new instruction to sell in the capital, pushing prices even [...]
Best of the Brokers for 10 December 2013 December 9, 2013 SUPERGROUP Numis retains its hold rating for Supergroup, with a target price of 1,100p, ahead of the firm’s half-year results on Thursday. Analysts said they continue to have concerns over the longevity of the brand in the UK, but it is hard to argue with the consistent like-for-like sales delivery. DOMINO’S PIZZA Panmure Gordon has [...]
London Report: Investors take punt on banks to drive FTSE up January 7, 2014 THE UK’S blue chip share index rose to a one-week high yesterday, with gains in financial stocks pushing the FTSE 100 towards major technical resistance levels. Lloyds rallied three per cent, as investors bought the stock on expectations that the bank will start paying dividends this year and that it will benefit from a recovering [...]
China slowdown hits luxury firms Boss and Remy November 26, 2013 LUXURY brands revised down their profit forecasts yesterday as growth in key Chinese markets continued to slow, dragging shares lower. Shares in Remy Cointreau dropped 11.6 per cent after the French spirits group warned of a double-digit decline in full-year operating profit because of a slowdown in China, while subdued demand in the country also hit [...]