Prada puts its best foot forward September 24, 2012 Italian fashion house Prada yesterday dismissed talk of a sharp slowdown in spending on luxury goods, posting a 59.5 per cent jump in net profit to €286.4m ( £228.4m) and saying its sales in the past two months were on track with expectations. “I think we must stay calm and be less hysterical,” said Patrizio [...]
Boris slams plans for property tax as stamp duty hits market November 19, 2012 BORIS JOHNSON yesterday slammed Liberal Democrat politicians who are calling for property tax hikes, while urging Google and other companies criticised for tax avoidance to do more to benefit the UK. “It is absurd to be suddenly whacking up taxes on cash-poor people who happen to inhabit expensive houses in London when firms like Google [...]
Boris slams plans for property tax as stamp duty hits market November 19, 2012 BORIS JOHNSON yesterday slammed Liberal Democrat politicians who are calling for property tax hikes, while urging Google and other companies criticised for tax avoidance to do more to benefit the UK. “It is absurd to be suddenly whacking up taxes on cash-poor people who happen to inhabit expensive houses in London when firms like Google [...]
Mark Carney’s Canadian legacy has still not weathered the test of time November 27, 2012 MARK Carney, the Bank of England’s new governor, will leave his current position as governor of the Bank of Canada with a sterling reputation. The widespread acclaim he has attracted is based on his Bank’s deft handling of the beginning of the financial crisis, and his recent appointment as head of the G20’s Financial Stability [...]
London behind UK-wide boom in house prices September 13, 2012 HOUSE PRICES and the number of transactions both climbed in August, driven by a booming London, according to data released by LSL property services today. Housing transactions grew 2.5 per cent in August, hitting a new high for the year so far, while average prices were up 2.6 per cent on the year, the data [...]
London behind UK-wide boom in house prices September 13, 2012 HOUSE PRICES and the number of transactions both climbed in August, driven by a booming London, according to data released by LSL property services today. Housing transactions grew 2.5 per cent in August, hitting a new high for the year so far, while average prices were up 2.6 per cent on the year, the data [...]
US mortgage applications slump despite more relaxed loan terms October 31, 2012 US CREDIT conditions on bank loans eased in the three months to October, data showed yesterday, but this improvement was not enough to boost demand for mortgages, according to separate statistics. Banks are dropping both standards and terms, the Federal Reserve said, driven by fierce competition from other banks as well as non-bank lenders. US [...]
BC goes back to the future with new deal for Foxtons March 18, 2012 THE private equity firm that lost control of Foxtons amid the housing slump is on the verge of buying it back from its banks. BC Partners, led by managing partner Charlie Bott, is set to take a majority shareholding for between £55m and £75m, two years after the estate agent was shored up by a [...]
Knight Frank says best London property thriving despite dip September 23, 2012 PRIME property in central London hit a new record high in September, according to estate agent Knight Frank, as it continued its robust recovery from the post-financial crisis slump. Prices grew 10 per cent in the last 12 months, the firm said today, pushing the index to a point some 51 per cent higher than [...]
Spotify swings to profit thanks to subscriptions September 25, 2012 SPOTIFY, the music streaming service headquartered in London, swung to its first profit last year as it signed up more users to monthly subscriptions and reduced its reliance on advertising. The privately-owned company, founded by Swedish entrepreneur Daniel Ek in 2006, saw a profit after tax of £21m in 2011, compared to the previous year’s [...]