New dawn for Japan land prices after 20-year slump September 19, 2013 THREE major cities in Japan now have climbing land prices, bucking the deflation that had sent assets back down to values last seen in the 1970s. Japan’s land prices have collapsed since their peak in 1990, sliding downward every year for more than two decades, and becoming a symbol of Japan’s ongoing challenge with price [...]
Persimmon profits up as Help to Buy boosts mortgage market August 20, 2013 Housebuiler Persimmon has seen pre tax profits up from £96.5m to £132.9m in the six months to June from the same period last year (release). The firm said that Help to Buy had boosted mortgage approvals "providing the necessary medium term support to demand in the UK housing market". Our economics reporter Michael Bird: There [...]
Theo Paphitis irons out losses at Robert Dyas August 11, 2013 ROBERT Dyas, the electricals and hardware chain, has seen sales and profits jump in its first set of annual results since it was bought by the former Dragons’ Den star Theo Paphitis. Pre-tax profits soared to £3.15m in the year to 30 March from £186,000 the previous year, accounts filed last week at Companies House [...]
Help to Buy is worrying but the real problem is inflexible housing policy July 31, 2013 MILTON Friedman once observed that, “with some notable exceptions, businessmen favour free enterprise in general, but are opposed to it when it comes to themselves.” With this in mind, if a market intervention is criticised even within the industries that could benefit from it, it is probably safe to conclude that it is a really [...]
UK mortgage approvals rise to a 17-month high as chancellor meets with lenders to discuss Help to Buy July 23, 2013 Some 37,278 home loans were approved in June 2013 – a 17-month high – according to a report from the British Banker’s Association. While this came in below analysts' expectations of a rise to 38,500, mortgage approvals were still up 32 per cent from June 2012 and 17 per cent from the 2012 average. It [...]
Typical US house prices up 13.5 per cent from a year ago to £140,000 July 22, 2013 Some ugly numbers in the form of existing US home sales for June. Rather than rising from 5.18m to 5.26m, they've dropped to 5.08m. And last month's 5.18m figure has been revised down to 5.14m. That puts the monthly change at -1.2 per cent, rather than the 0.5 per cent improvement forecast. Total inventory has [...]
Letters to the editor February 10, 2013 Consensual leader [RE: Mark Carney will be more of a reformer than a revolutionary, Friday] This article is thoughtful, but I disagree with its second point. The Monetary Policy Committee’s current inflation target is already quite flexible; it is unclear what would be achieved by formalising flexibility. Mark Carney’s testimony was more candid than the [...]
Kingfisher cuts back on space to save on costs September 11, 2013 B&Q OWNER Kingfisher said yesterday it is to scale back or exit 18 of its stores across the UK as the DIY retailer looks for ways to ease its lease burden and boost profitability. Several retailers, including Topshop owner Arcadia, have been shedding stores as leases come up for renewal to reflect changes in [...]
Reed Elsevier triples 2013 share buyback July 25, 2013 PUBLISHING and events group Reed Elsevier beat forecasts for first-half earnings yesterday and reiterated its full-year outlook, saying it expected further revenue and profit growth this year. The group reported underlying sales growth of five per cent. In Europe, underlying sales were down 0.8 per cent. The Anglo-Dutch publisher said underlying adjusted operating profit grew [...]
What the analysts are saying about UK retail sales growth August 15, 2013 Source: Capital Economics Earlier this morning, the Office for National Statistics reported that retail sales jumped by 3.0 per cent year-on-year in July, boosted by sunny weather and food sales. For the most part, analysts seemed cautious about getting too excited over the data and prospects for a sustainable recovery. Martin Beck, UK economist [...]