Just-Eat dials up bid to debut on growth market February 23, 2014 FAST food site Just-Eat is sharpening plans to list on the new high-growth segment (HGS) of London’s main stock market, making it the first company to join the fledgling platform if it pulls the trigger on the plans. The company’s backers are understood to be examining a proposal to offload just 10 per cent of [...]
Mark Carney is going to be very happy about this chart January 14, 2014 Inflation is finally at the Bank of England's target – and it only took four years to get there. So we expect that the Bank's (still relatively new to the job) governor Mark Carney will be pretty pleased by this chart of falling annual consumer price inflation: This morning Societe Generale's Kit Juckes [...]
We must help the poor – but hurting the rich makes no sense February 18, 2014 MORE Ferraris are now sold in the UK than in any other European country. No fewer than 677 of the Italian supercars were delivered to the UK, out of total global sales of 7,000, more even than Germany, home of autobahns with no speed limits. Many people will be upset at this. Real wages are [...]
Carney’s reforms are welcome but won’t prevent another crisis March 18, 2014 GOOD on Mark Carney. The Bank of England he inherited was in urgent need of a shake-up, and he has now delivered on the comprehensive reorganisation he promised. Some of the jargon that accompanied his presentation yesterday was a tad irritating, but it is good to see private sector management techniques being applied to the [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 10 April 2014 April 9, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Firms in the dark over pension charges Employers running final-salary pension schemes can be charged 10 times more than more efficient competitors, according to a new regulatory study that exposes a further lack of transparency in Britain’s investment industry. Research by The Pensions Regulator has also found that nearly a quarter of the [...]
Migrant benefit reform: Doing the right thing for all of the wrong reasons January 20, 2014 YESTERDAY saw the government announce the latest in a line of restrictions on the benefits immigrants can claim. New jobless EU migrants will be denied access to housing benefit from April, and will only be able to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance for six months unless they have a “genuine” chance of work. This comes on top [...]
Housebuilders pledge to end advance sales of homes overseas December 18, 2013 A TOTAL of 11 housing developers have signed a pledge to market their properties to UK buyers first, or at the same time, as marketing abroad. Concerns about properties being sold to foreign investors who then choose not to live in them have led to claims that many London streets are unoccupied while demand in [...]
Mortgage rates could be on the rise September 17, 2013 With rising costs and house price highs spooking homebuyers, shop around for a good deal NEWS that house prices in England have hit record highs – now 0.9 per cent higher than their previous peak in January 2008 – has heightened fears that the government’s Help to Buy subsidised mortgage scheme is fuelling a housing [...]
Mortgage lending soars. But will it all end in tears? December 12, 2013 Lending to first time buyers rose dramatically in October, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. First time buyers advanced 26,800 loans in October, the largest number of loans in a monthly period since November 2007. Strong buyer interest is strengthening activity in the housing market but limited supply remains a major problem. House prices [...]
What you need to know before the open February 28, 2014 European bourses are set to open slightly higher this morning, after Fed chair Janet Yellen yesterday acknowledged the possibility that recent severe weather in the US could have impacted economic data. She also confirmed the Fed remains on track with its tapering programme. US markets finished on a record high yesterday, with the S&P 500 [...]