FOCUS ON: HENLEY May 3, 2012 ST ANDREWS ROAD Price: £2.25m A detached five bedroom family home with three reception rooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, a garage, a large garden and a pool. Contact savills.co.uk or call 01491 843 000 RIDGEWAY FARMHOUSE Price: £3.25m A Grade II Listed, three bedroom home with a kitchen/breakfast room, conservatory, dining Room, drawing Room, [...]
Surging labour costs are keeping UK unemployment high May 29, 2012 THERE is a straightforward reason why unemployment remains so high in Britain. Unit labour costs are rising – hiring someone to produce a set amount of output is becoming more expensive. And higher prices mean reduced demand – in the jobs market as in everything else. This may come as a bit of a surprise: [...]
Surging labour costs are keeping UK unemployment high May 29, 2012 THERE is a straightforward reason why unemployment remains so high in Britain. Unit labour costs are rising – hiring someone to produce a set amount of output is becoming more expensive. And higher prices mean reduced demand – in the jobs market as in everything else. This may come as a bit of a surprise: [...]
Tough housing market weighs on Topps Tiles March 28, 2012 TOPPS said yesterday that muted consumer spending and a sluggish housing market in the UK hurt revenue in the first half of the financial year, sending the company’s shares down four per cent. “It doesn’t seem to me housing transactions will fall below current levels,” chief executive Matthew Williams said. He said the company was [...]
Eurozone optimists are suffering from cognitive dissonance May 30, 2012 MY abiding memory of the credit crisis was the delusion that continued to grip the City and Wall Street long after it became apparent to objective observers that a terrible recession was about to begin. Most people kept their heads firmly in the sand when HSBC’s US sub-prime unit reported losses, for example, or when [...]
M&S misses sales forecast April 17, 2012 Marks & Spencer missed forecasts for underlying fourth quarter sales, with growth in food sales failing to offset a weaker outcome in general merchandise. The UK’s biggest clothing retailer, which also sells homewares and upmarket foods, said on Tuesday it would, however, meet expectations for 2011/12 profit. M&S said sales at stores open over a [...]
Bonuses slashed at Sainsbury’s and M&S June 7, 2012 The chief executives of major retailers J Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer have both taken cuts in their bonuses after failing to meet targets and as recession forces them to scale back growth plans. Philip Clarke, head of rival Tesco, last month forewent his annual bonus, paying the price for a weak performance in the [...]
THE TIPSTER October 30, 2011 TRICK or treat? Marstons – brewer of Hobgoblin beer and pub owner – has like the rest of the market, enjoyed a frightfully good October, with shares rallying close on 20 per cent. Although the market is becoming increasingly dominated by a handful of giants, earnings are expected to be in line with expectations when [...]
THE TIPSTER October 30, 2011 TRICK or treat? Marstons – brewer of Hobgoblin beer and pub owner – has like the rest of the market, enjoyed a frightfully good October, with shares rallying close on 20 per cent. Although the market is becoming increasingly dominated by a handful of giants, earnings are expected to be in line with expectations when [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 30, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Transparency on banks’ treasury units urged International banks must improve disclosure of often obscure treasury unit investments following the recent $2bn trading loss at JPMorgan’s chief investment office, rating agencies and bank analysts have urged. Malaysia fund nears £375m Battersea deal A Malaysian pension fund is poised to seal a £375m deal to [...]