Travis Perkins’ share price heads south as profits plunge March 2, 2017 Travis Perkins' share price has dropped by 8.5 per cent today after the builders' merchant's profit slumped and it fired a warning-shot about the UK economy. The figures In the year ending 31 December, Travis Perkins' profit before tax slumped 67 per cent, down from £224m to just £73m. Like-for-like revenues grew 2.7 per cent, up from £5.9bn to [...]
Well-heeled: Jimmy Choo posts confident full-year figures as profit jumps March 2, 2017 Luxury shoe maker Jimmy Choo posted a confident set of full-year results today, fresh from dressing stars at the Oscars. The figures For the full year ending 31 December, Jimmy Choo's revenue grew at 1.6 per cent constant currency, and 14.5 per cent in reported currency, up from £317.9m in 2015 to £364m last year. [...]
UK housebuilders’ shares rise as mortgage approvals hit highest level since February last year March 1, 2017 Housebuilders' share prices rose today after figures from the Bank of England showed that in January mortgage approvals hit the highest level since February 2016. The Bank reported a 2.4 per cent month-on-month rise in January, bringing the number of mortgages to 69,928. Read more: UK house prices rose by just £600 last month This [...]
UK government sets up first ever pavilion at Mipim to drum up business ahead of Brexit March 1, 2017 The UK government is setting up its first ever pavilion at property’s most important trade event to drum up international investment ahead of Brexit. At Mipim in Cannes thousands of investors, developers and property moguls will meet to do business – and socialise on multi-million pound yachts. Read more: Vincent Tchenguiz is getting a new superyacht – but [...]
Tesco completes sale of its Kipa business in Turkey March 1, 2017 Tesco has completed the sale of its stake in Turkish supermarket chain Kipa, which it bought in 2003. The sale was first announced in June last year, part of Tesco's efforts to offload its underperforming assets and focus on its core supermarket business. Tesco has also sold restaurant chain Giraffe and its garden centre business [...]
A new chapter: Barack and Michelle Obama sign book deals worth millions with Penguin March 1, 2017 Penguin Random House has signed a book deal with Barack and Michelle Obama that is reportedly worth $60m (£49m). The presidential pair have already written books published by Penguin. Obama wrote a memoir titled "Dreams From My Father", and penned his thoughts on the presidency in "The Audacity of Hope". Both books were bestsellers. Read more: Obama [...]
British Land and Oxford Properties have sold the Cheesegrater for £1.15bn March 1, 2017 British Land and Oxford Properties have exchanged contracts for the sale of the Leadenhall Building to C C Land for £1.15bn. Shareholders of the Hong Kong-listed C C Land must now approve the sale before it can be completed. Tim Roberts, head of offices and residential, British Land, said: "British Land and Oxford Properties took [...]
The Chelsea house price plunge: here’s how low prices will go March 1, 2017 Stamp duty changes rocked the central London housing market last year as buyers became less keen to fork out thousands of pounds in transaction taxes for homes worth over £1m. Asking prices on high-end homes in London's most affluent boroughs were slashed – some by as much as 30 per cent – as home-movers sought [...]
How did Sir Philip Green end up paying £363m towards the BHS pension scheme? Key episodes in the BHS box set March 1, 2017 Sir Philip Green finally stumped up some (well, quite a lot of) cash for the BHS pensions black hole yesterday, after a year of publicly fighting with MPs, Goldman Sachs bankers, journalists, and former race car driver and bankrupt Dominic Chappell. The sorry saga started two years ago, when Green was seeking advice from Goldman Sachs about [...]
Food prices are increasing at the fastest rate for two and a half years March 1, 2017 Food prices are increasing at the fastest rate for two and a half years as the fall in the value of sterling has forced supermarkets to pass on some of their costs to shoppers. Prices for food rose 0.4 per cent year-on-year in February, according to figures from Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium (BRC). [...]
