BP quarterly loss: key points

– included in that number is a £12.9bn compensation fund agreed in June
– excluding oil spill and other non-operating costs, BP’s profits rose $4.9bn (£3.2bn)
– 4 per cent fall in production on last year because of oil spill
– more than $30bn (£19.3bn) of assets to be sold off to raise funds
– BP plans to cut its net debt level to between $10 billion (£6.4bn) and $15 billion from $23bn over the next 18 months.
– confirmation that Tony Hayward will step down as chief executive on 1 October
– Mr Hayward will be entitled to a £600,000 annual pension and a total pot of £11m
– Bob Dudley, currently in charge of day-to-day clean-up operations in the Gulf, will become new chief executive
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BT pay deal averts strike action

BT called the deal ‘unprecedented’

BT and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have reached a deal on staff pay, averting the threat of strike action.
The agreement will see BT workers receive a 9.3% pay rise over 39 months, the two sides having failed to reach agreement on a one or two-year deal.
BT had previously offered a 5.1% rise over 21 months; the CWU had wanted a 5% rise for 2010-11 alone.
The company described the deal as “unprecedented” while the union said it was “fantastic” for its members.
Under the agreement, staff will receive pensionable pay rises worth 3% each financial year from April 2010 to March 2013, with the rise being backdated to January 2010.
‘Fantastic deal’

















“This agreement is good for BT, its employees, shareholders and customers,” BT chief executive Ian Livingston said.
“BT will benefit from a long period of certainty whilst our employees will have financial stability during uncertain economic times.
“I am pleased that we have been able to work with the union’s leadership to resolve this matter as industrial action would have been in no-one’s interest.”
CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said: “This is a fantastic deal for our members, providing a fair rise in their basic pay this year and for the following two years.
“This deal is among the highest pay settlements in the country this year, recognising the contribution of staff and BT’s success over the last year.”
Shares in BT rose 2.3% to 139.1p shortly after the announcement was made.
Ballot impact The CWU had opened a ballot on industrial action last month but cancelled it on Monday following legal advice.
“Although our ballot for strike action was ultimately withdrawn, we believe it played a major part in getting BT back to the negotiating table with a significantly improved pay offer,” Mr Kerr said.
The CWU, which represents 55,000 BT workers including engineers and call centre workers, will now hold a consultative ballot of its members recommending that they endorse the deal in the coming weeks.
The union had previously argued that BT could afford a 5% rise over one year after the company reported a £1bn annual profit and revealed that chief executive Ian Livingston would be paid a £1.2m bonus for his work last year.

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Renold links gain to restocking

Orders for Renold in the three months to June 30 were 30pc up on the same
quarter last year, according to the trading update yesterday, but Mr Davies
warned he remained “cautious” about sales growth continuing beyond
September because of the “uncertain macro-economic conditions”.
However, he added: “If there is a shortfall in demand we will just see
that, not the extra 10pc to 15pc we saw last year from destocking.”

Manchester-based Renold also produces gears and couplings. It is the market
leader in the UK and Europe. Renold shares rose 1.93, or 8pc, to 25.18p,
valuing it at £55m.

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House prices rise again in June

House prices are still rising, but at a slower rate

House prices rose again in June but only by 0.1%, according to the Nationwide building society.
The rise follows a 0.5% increase in May, with the average property in the UK now costing more than £170,000.
Prices have risen by 3% since the start of the year, the Nationwide’s house price index showed.
However, the rate of annual house price inflation fell again to 8.7%, with prices rising more slowly than they did this time last year.
Commenting on the figures, Nationwide’s chief economist Martin Gahbauer said the slowdown may be due to an increase in the number of properties up for sale.
“Recent indicators point to an increase in the supply of property coming to the market for sale, perhaps in response to the abolition of Hips (Home Information Packs) in the opening days of the new coalition government,” he said.
“With the level of demand remaining broadly stable, this would in part help to explain the recent slowdown observed in the rate of house price inflation.”
The coalition government confirmed that Hips would be abolished following the election in May.
Mr Gahbauer added that he expected the annual rate of house price inflation to keep falling over the coming months as a result of the very strong house price increases seen in the summer of 2009.

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Capital gains tax: buy to let landlords face doubling tax bill

By Richard Evans

Published: 1:10PM BST 14 May 2010

If, as expected, CGT is raised to 40pc for non-business assets, someone who
bought a £100,000 second home 25 years ago could pay an extra £56,000 in tax
if the Government decides not to take inflation into account, according to
Fidelity, the fund manager.

Most properties bought by private investors, such as buy-to-lets and holiday
homes, are regarded as non-business assets and so would not be exempted from
any rise in CGT.

Even with indexation, a rise in the rate of CGT to 40pc would saddle the
investor with an additional tax bill almost £28,000, Fidelity said.

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House prices slip as more go on the market

[fivefilters.org: unable to retrieve full-text content]House prices unexpectedly fell in April as the number of unsold properties rose to the highest level in a year, figures showed today.

Back on track? House prices have fallen, says Land Registry

Signs of volatility in house price growth emerged yesterday as official figures showed a 0.6 per cent fall in average prices between February and March.
The Land Registry figures, which are a lagging indicator of prices based on completed transactions of second-hand properties, show that the average house price stands at £164,288 a 7.5 per cent higher than a year ago, but down from £164,455 in February.
The data came a day after Nationwide, which bases its figures on mortgage approvals, an earlier indicator of the direction of the market, said that prices rose by 1 per cent in April. Nationwide had recorded price growth of 0.7 per cent in March, up from a 0.8 per cent decline in February. This suggests that the Land Registry figures may show a rise next month.
The Land Registry figures also revealed a 38 per cent rise in the average number of sales per month, from 36,264 in the final quarter of 2008 to 58,775 between October last year and January this year, reflecting the improved sentiment among homemovers.

However, the overall price growth figures mask big disparities between regions and different types of homes. Despite the overall average 0.6 per cent decline, prices continued to grow in March in London, the North East and the East, with prices rising by 1.6 per cent, l.6 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively, according to the Land Registry.
Growth was lowest in the East Midlands, where prices fell by 2.1 per cent in March, with falls of 1 per cent and 1.2 per cent in the West Midlands and Wales. However, the Land Registry pointed out that annual price growth has been positive for all 10 regions, with London the highest, at 13 per cent and Wales, at 1.1 per cent, the lowest.
By property type, detached homes have performed most strongly over the past 12 months, with growth of 10.5 per cent, compared with 8.1 per cent for semi-detached properties, Despite the more buoyant figures from Nationwide, economists remained dubious about the sustain- ability of recovery. It could receive its first setback in the event of a hung parliament, which might make homeowners more uncertain, according to property experts.
A spokeswoman for Savills said: “While it is difficult to separate the election effect from the economic effect, there is little doubt that overall transaction has softened in the run-up to this election.
“Because of mortgage constraints and a slow recovery from the recession, it was always unlikely that transaction would recover strongly this year but continued political uncertainty will do little to encourage much of a recovery that seems increasingly reliant on the autumn market.”
Howard Archer, the chief economist at IHS Global Insight, the economics consultancy, said: “We remain dubious that house prices can make significant gains over the coming months. Housing market activity appears to have lost some momentum overall so far in 2010, the economic fundamentals — notably high unemployment, still falling employment and low wage growth — are still far from robust for the housing market, credit conditions are still pretty tight, and house price/earnings ratios have moved back up.
“Meanwhile, more properties are coming on to the market, thereby moving the supply/demand balance more in favour of buyers. This is particularly relevant as a shortage of properties has been a key factor in the recovery in house prices from their early 2009 lows,” he said.
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Paul Walker to stand down as Sage chief

Published: 10:56AM BST 19 Apr 2010














































Sage Group

In
a short statement on Monday, the company confirmed that Mr Walker
had asked to stand down, adding: “Paul and the board will work to ensure a
seamless transition and the board will make a further announcement at the
appropriate time.”

Sage shares
rose 1.4pc to 255.9 in early trading on Monday.

Mr Walker, who has a one-year contract, was paid £1.16m in salary, bonus and
benefits last year. According to the 2009 annual report he holds options
over 1.87m Sage shares.

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Housing market in ’spring bounce’

The number of people trying to buy or sell homes has picked up in the past month, according to estate agents.The number of potential sellers rose in March to its highest level for six months, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said. And the number of prospective buyers went up by 7% last month. The NAEA said spring had brought its usual increase in activity, and suggested sales would improve in the coming months. “Spring has finally arrived and brought with it a much needed boost to the housing market, particularly among sellers,” said Gary Smith of the NAEA. “This figure has been low in recent months and this is a welcome indication that reflects a growing confidence that the recovery is well underway.” Encouraging signsEarlier this week, a survey by the the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), some of whose members also work as estate agents, reported that the number of people trying to sell their homes last month had reached its highest level since May 2007.

According to the NAEA’s survey, the average number of homes for sale at each of its member’s branches rose from 56 in February to 60 in March. At the same time, the number of house hunters registered with each branch went up by 7% last month, to 274 per branch. Sales have also risen, the NAEA said, from an average of 6.8 per branch in February to eight last month. The NAEA said all this was encouraging, especially with more sellers around. “This month’s figures reveal an increase in the levels of housing stock with more properties available for sale per branch - the highest value recorded over the last six months,” the NAEA said. “More house-hunters also registered their interest. With the bad weather now behind us buyers and sellers alike are returning to the market with a renewed vigour,” it added.

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US house repossessions hit five-year high

By James Quinn in New York






Published: 8:23PM BST 15 Apr 2010

Repossessions rose by 35pc in the first quarter of 2010, against the same
period last year, as banks took charge of 257,944 houses and flats - the
highest in any three-month period since January 2005.

Figures from property research consultancy RealtyTrac show that the rate of
foreclosure – the process which begins after a mortgage defaults and leads
to repossession – rose by 16pc in the first quarter, with 1 in every 138 US
homes receiving such a notice.

The situation however is concentrated in a handful of states – led by
California, Florida and Arizona - with ten states accounting for more than
70pc of foreclosure filings in the first quarter.

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