Surveys reveal housing sector activity boost November 12, 2012 THE UK’S ailing housing sector has begun to show signs of life, according to two widely-regarded reports released yesterday and this morning. Interest in residential properties from potential buyers grew at its fastest rate for nearly three years in October, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) revealed this morning. The number of agreed sales [...]
Housing market gloom returns as transactions and prices drop October 11, 2012 THE HOUSING market stalled in September, with slipping prices and collapsing numbers of sales, data revealed today. Transactions dived 24 per cent into September, according to statistics from LSL Property Services, while the average house price edged down 0.1 per cent to £225,374. “A combination of dipping house prices and falling sales numbers point to [...]
Hugo Boss posts China sales rise October 30, 2012 ■ German fashion house Hugo Boss said yesterday it was seeing some signs of improvement in China, with sales picking up there in the third quarter. “We do see stabilisation but no recovery in consumer confidence in China yet,” chief executive Claus-Dietrich Lahrs said, as the firm posted third-quarter earnings showing flat sales of €646m [...]
End universal benefits and cut tax to rebuild UK future March 15, 2013 THE pre-Budget period is often typified by a cacophony of measures, ranging from the incisive to the interesting to the idiotic. But a focus on individual measures can cause us to lose sight of more fundamental themes. As such, I want to talk about the “why” in the economic debate, not only the “how”. Our [...]
Equistone exits travel firm ATPI in ICG-backed manager buyout December 3, 2012 PRIVATE equity house Equistone Partners yesterday said it had sold its portfolio company ATPI, a global travel firm, to management in a buyout backed by Intermediate Capital Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Equistone Partners Europe director John Walker said the exit generated a “good return” for investors. Equistone snapped up ATPI [...]
Knight Frank says house prices may not return to peak till 2019 November 6, 2012 THE DOWNWARD correction to house prices gathered pace in October, according to data out yesterday, while one estate agent today predicted prices would not reach their pre-recession peak until 2019. The UK’s average house price slid 0.7 per cent into October, according to the Halifax house price index, meaning prices are some 1.7 per cent [...]
Wall Street’s rally halts over economic fears December 13, 2012 THE S&P 500 ended its six-day winning streak yesterday, retreating as worries intensified that Washington’s “fiscal cliff” negotiations were dragging on with little progress. Anxiety about the drawn-out talks between Democrats and Republicans was enough to offset encouraging data on retail sales and jobless claims . There is concern that tax hikes and spending cuts, [...]
Homebuilders welcome rise of green shoots November 12, 2012 HOUSEBUILDERS Taylor Wimpey and Bovis Homes yesterday said they had continued to make steady progress since the first half of the year as their focus on margins paid off. In a third quarter update, Taylor Wimpey said housing market conditions remained stable and while mortgage lending was still constrained, it had seen “incremental improvement” since [...]
Taxpayers face £50m bill from Comet failure December 16, 2012 THE owners of Comet are set to recover £50m from the collapse of the electricals chain while taxpayers are expected to fork out around £50m in unpaid tax and redundancy costs. A report by administrator Deloitte due to be published today is expected to show that Hailey Acquisitions Limited (HAL), Comet’s parent company, is entitled [...]
Costco plans $3bn special payout ahead of fiscal cliff tax increases November 28, 2012 RETAILER Costco Wholesale yesterday said it will pay a special dividend worth some $3bn (£1.9bn) to investors, sending cash to its shareholders ahead of a likely increase in the dividend tax. The retailer also posted monthly same-store sales that beat analysts’ expectations. Several companies have declared one-time cash dividends in recent days ahead of a [...]