Competition body slams audit firms February 22, 2013 THE COMPETITION Commission will this morning find that the Big Four accountancy firms have too much control over the industry, and call for measures to encourage Britain’s largest companies to change auditor regularly to boost competition. In its long-awaited provisional report, the commission is expected to find no evidence of collusion, but will raise concerns [...]
Private sales rise at Galliford Try July 10, 2012 Homebuilder Galliford Try said yesterday it has sold more homes at higher prices in its private housebuilding segment for the full year, largely benefiting from its focus on the south of England, and said the UK housing market has been stable. Completions including those from joint ventures rose 40 per cent to 3,039 units during [...]
Britain facing a struggle with Japanese style lost half-decade January 16, 2013 THE UK is well on its way to suffering a Japanese-style lost half-decade of flat or worse economic growth, according to research released yesterday. Though the service sector is back above its pre-recession high in output, catastrophic industrial and construction output mean the economy as a whole is roughly in the same place as it was four [...]
Ashley offloads a £100m stake in Sports Direct February 26, 2013 SHARES in Sports Direct fell six per cent yesterday after founder Mike Ashley sold £100m of his majority stake in the sports retailer, taking the market by surprise. Ashley sold 25m shares at 400p, a seven per cent discount to Monday’s closing price, in an accelerated bookbuilding run by Goldman Sachs. The book was two [...]
New lending scheme fails to boost small businesses January 30, 2013 EFFECTIVE interest rates on new deposits have dived from 3.01 per cent in August, when the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) started to provide banks with cheap funds, to just 2.11 per cent in December, the Bank of England revealed. But the cheaper funds have started to divert cash back into the mortgage market, the [...]
We need new digital currencies to shake up the status quo April 6, 2013 THERE is much to like about what Bitcoin stands for: free-market money, safe from the grabbing hands of a state that cannot wait to debase, devalue and decimate whatever currency it gets its hands on, destroying hard-working savers. For years now, techies of a libertarian bent have been doing their best to devise a workable [...]
Crest Nicholson flotation gets a firm following February 5, 2013 FINANCIAL advisers for the housebuilder Crest Nicholson have managed to attract sufficient demand for the upcoming IPO a week ahead of schedule. The demand for the offer has been achieved despite the nervousness in the financial markets on Monday and despite the paucity of new issues in the London markets over the past couple of [...]
Cinven gears up for £1bn float of annuity outfit February 17, 2013 CINVEN, the private equity business, is firming up plans for a £1bn float of its annuity business Partnership amid a renaissance in London’s capital markets. The mid-market buyout shop, which also owns PizzaExpress and ASK Italian restaurants, is understood to be pushing for an initial public offering (IPO) of Partnership in the second half of [...]
London Stock Exchange boosts data business as trading dips January 24, 2013 LONDON Stock Exchange (LSE) managed to boost its profits in the final three months of 2012, despite low trading volumes hitting its core capital markets business. Income from fees on UK share trades dropped by 13 per cent, while earnings from post-trade services – such as clearing – slumped from £58m to £49.6m. However total group income was up [...]
RBS and Lloyds results look set to show losses February 24, 2013 STATE-BACKED banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are both expected to announce full-year results this week, with analysts forecasting both lenders will remain loss-making. Investec believes RBS, which will deliver its 2012 figures on Thursday, will announce an attributable loss of £2.2bn for the final quarter – or a £5.6bn loss for [...]