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 [...]
New York Report: Nasdaq above 4,000 for first time in 13 years November 26, 2013 THE Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 yesterday for the first time since 2000, while the Dow and S&P ended barely changed. Retailers and homebuilders were among the best performing sectors, responding to stronger-than-expected earnings and robust housing market data. Tiffany jumped seven per cent to $88.02 and was the S&P 500’s top performer after [...]
London asking prices to hit record levels in 2014 December 15, 2013 INITIAL asking prices for London homes are set to rise by six per cent next year, a slowdown on 2013 but still taking London prices to new all-time records, new research out today shows. According to Rightmove’s latest house price index, the average price of property coming to market in London is up by 10.6 [...]
London Report: Supermarkets help to push FTSE down amid thin trading December 18, 2013 THE UK’s main equity index steadied in thin trade yesterday, with investors cautious before what is seen as a tight policy decision by the US Federal Reserve, and with a sell-off in retailers putting a lid on any gains. Strong US data, including yesterday’s forecast-beating housing starts, has fuelled expectations that the Fed could scale [...]
Carpetright’s half-year profits worn thin by Netherlands arm December 10, 2013 WORSENING conditions in the Netherlands and volatile trading in the UK caused flooring specialist Carpetright to post a slump in first-half profits. The group already issued a profit warning in October alongside the shock news that chief executive Darren Shapland was stepping down with immediate effect just 18 months into the role. His departure saw [...]
Saga puts retail investor at heart of London float April 30, 2014 SAGA, the over-50s holidays-to-insurance provider, yesterday unveiled plans for the biggest flotation in London this year, as a stampede of silver haired savers registered to snap up shares in the listing. The business, which was founded by east end hotelier Sidney De Haan in 1950, said it would raise £550m in an initial public offering [...]
Golf courses use more land than UK homes November 12, 2013 EVERY home in England would fit on the same small amount of land we devote to full-sized golf courses, according to a shocking analysis of the UK’s housing shortage. On estimates from Colin Wiles of Inside Housing and the housing charity Shelter, roughly 1.1 per cent of the country is used on full-size golf courses [...]
House of Fraser weighs first quarter float amid rising markets November 10, 2013 DEPARTMENT store House of Fraser has accelerated plans for a listing on London’s stock market in the first quarter of 2014 after appointing Rothschild as advisers. The store, which posted record sales last year, is expected to hold a beauty parade of banks before Christmas to co-ordinate and run a share offering, with plans to [...]
Investment into Europe property hits record high March 10, 2014 INVESTORS from outside of Europe spent a record €36bn (£30bn) on European real estate last year, with US, Asian and Middle Eastern investors leading the charge. According to research released today by DTZ at Mipim, the property’s industry annual conference in Cannes, this represented a 26 per cent share of total volumes invested across the [...]
The Power of Three: How big business could join government to support small companies March 10, 2014 IF I received a pound for every time a chief executive of a large firm said to me “we’d like to be the champions of small business”, I’d be comfortably off. However, over the past year, I’ve seen an increasing number of businesses not only voicing this statement, but acting on it. This is a [...]