Housebuilding boss downplays Help to Buy influence August 19, 2013 Housebuilder Bovis Homes Group has announced a 19 per cent jump in first half pre-tax profits to £18.6m and that it has already sold around 90 per cent of its homes for the year. However, its chief executive denied the success was due entirely to a government-fuelled housing bubble (release). Bovis’s average house price increased [...]
US Treasury yields hit two year highs August 19, 2013 Source: Market Watch Ten-year US Treasury yields hit 2.873 per cent this morning – the highest point since July 2011. This comes as investors express concern about the potential tapering off of bond buying by the US Federal Reserve as early as September. Although higher US yields typically give a boost to the dollar (by [...]
Insurer Amlin “optimistic” despite fall in profits August 19, 2013 Insurance group Amlin has reported it made a first half pre-tax profit of £161.4m, in line with analyst expectations (release). Despite the fall from £184.4m in the same period the previous year, the combined ratio came in at 85 per cent. Basic earnings per share fell to 28.2p from 34.1p. Chief executive Charles Philipps said [...]
Before the open – 19/08 August 19, 2013 The Nikkei erased early losses last night as the yen weakened against the dollar, boosting the competitive edge for exporters. This morning, it was reported that the trade deficit hit a record high in July while import and export growth accelerated. The trade deficit hit a record high of 1.024 trillion yen in July (182.3bn [...]
Kentz rejects £680m takeover offer August 19, 2013 The board of engineering solutions specialist Kentz has unanimously rejected a £680m cash offer from rival AMEC on the grounds it undervalues the company (release). This morning, AMEC confirmed speculation it made the offer in an attempt to boost its geographic coverage and grow its oil and gas and mining businesses. The offer of 565p [...]
Partner of journalist who published Snowden leaks detained at Heathrow August 19, 2013 The Brazilian partner of Guardian jounalist Glenn Greenwald who published documents leaked by former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was held for nine hours at Heathrow on his way to Rio de Janeiro. David Miranda was held at Heathrow airport from 8:05 and released at 17:00. Nine hours is the maximum allowed time [...]
HS2 rubbishes claim that costs could hit £80bn August 19, 2013 THE COMPANY developing the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway last night hit out at claims that the cost of the route will eventually hit £80bn, insisting the figure is based on ideology rather than reality. A report released today by the free market Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) think tank concludes that local lobbying campaigns [...]
China on track to overtake India as world’s top gold consumer August 17, 2013 CHINA’S consumption of gold in the first six months of the year surged by more than half as sliding prices of the metal lured buyers, data showed yesterday, reinforcing expectations that it will overtake India as the world’s top gold consumer this year. Gold prices have lost about a fifth of their value this year [...]
Greece’s catastrophic 1930s-style depression is a salutary tale August 17, 2013 SORRY, but the fact that Greece collapsed at an annual rate of 4.6 per cent in the second quarter, rather than a little bit faster, isn’t good news. It’s terrible, awful, horrible news. Greek output is down by 23 per cent since 2008 and unemployment is at around 28 per cent; no wonder, given the [...]
US authorities sign off $10.2bn takeover of the New York Stock Exchange August 16, 2013 The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the $10.2bn takeover of NYSE Euronext – parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, the NYSE Arca platform and the NYSE MKT – by the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE). This approval is one of the last required before the acquisition can be closed, creating the world’s second largest exchange [...]