S&P 500 index hits a four year intraday high August 21, 2012 US stocks fell yesterday after the S&P 500 hit its highest level in four years as the benchmark index faced technical resistance and traders cashed in recent gains. The S&P 500 index hit 1,426.68, its highest intraday rise since May 2008. Volume has been light, as expected in August, and only three of the past [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 2, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Siemens sets out €3bn share buyback Siemens, the German industrial conglomerate, plans to buy back up to €3bn in shares by the end of the year as it tries to make best use of its capital structure. Siemens said in a statement late on Thursday that the equity-for-debt swap would be used to [...]
Citigroup profit falls July 16, 2012 Citigroup said second quarter profits dropped as it lost money on the sale of a stake in a Turkish bank and suffered from the drag of its troubled assets left over from the 2007-2008 credit crisis. Net income fell to $2.9 billion (£1.8bn), or 95 cents per share, from $3.34 billion, or $1.09 a share, [...]
Building your house on government support does not provide the firmest of foundations August 20, 2012 BETWEEN a government practically falling over itself to offer support and the supply constraints that continue to dog the UK property sector, there are worse things to be, even in today’s difficult marketplace, than a housebuilder. As Bovis Homes proved yesterday, with a doubling of pre-tax profit in the first half of the year compared [...]
Scream buyer revealed July 12, 2012 THE identity of the bidder who set a record for the highest price for any work of art at an auction when he bought Edvard Munch’s The Scream in May can be revealed. According to the Wall Street Journal the New York financier Leon Black is the bidder who offered nearly £74m for the work [...]
Bovis enjoys robust trading July 9, 2012 Homebuilder Bovis Homes yesterday reported robust trading during the first half of the year and said housing market conditions in the UK remained stable. The Kent-based group completed 944 homes in the six months to 30 June compared with 801 homes a year ago. Average sales price during the period increased one per cent to [...]
Versace’s place is for sale at $125m… here are Europe’s rival celeb homes June 28, 2012 GOLFE POENTE Quinta do Lago, Portugal Artyon Senna, the late Brazilian race-driver, used this house as his European bolthole when competing in Europe. It’s a nine-bedroom estate with a flood-lit football pitch and tennis court, sunken trampoline, dog kennel and a spacious layout. Senna, born in a ritzy part of Sao Paulo in 1960, was [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 19, 2012 Inflexion Private Equity The private equity house has announced the promotion of Richard Swann from the position of investment director to its partnership. He joined Inflexion in 2008, and has since led several of its investments. Swann’s promotion follows the firm’s recent appointments in Brazil, India and China. Coutts Johnny Heng has been appointed managing [...]
Our at-a-glance guide to Osborne’s mini-Budget December 5, 2012 THE UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ■ The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revised down its forecast for UK growth and revised up its forecast for public sector borrowing. It says the government is no longer likely to meet its target of reducing debt as a proportion of GDP in 2015-16, breaking its supplementary fiscal rule. [...]
Lloyds-backed Cala Group builds recovery on higher house prices July 1, 2012 HOUSE builder Cala Group said today its sales and prices have both soared in the last year, despite tough conditions in the property market. Edinburgh-based Cala said sale completions rose 35 per cent to 875 in the year to the end of June, and the firm has already secured forward sales of 160 homes for [...]