Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Rivals’ discounts may force writedowns at Bellway
Housebuilder warns of possible portfolio revaluations in January, blaming discounting at other firms
Bellway has taken a swipe at some of its rivals by claiming that heavy discounting could lead to further writedowns in its own portfolio.
In a trading update for the period between 1 August and 30 November, the UK housebuilder said: “Pricing pressures, driven in the main by certain competitors’ activities and lenders’ lower valuations, could lead to continued margin erosion and if these pressures persist a further review of the book value of land and work in progress at 31 January 2009, at the time of the interim results, can’t be ruled out.”
Bovis Homes and Urban Splash announce more job cuts
Bovis Homes will make up to 200 redundant while Urban Splash is to lay off staff in Northern contracting arm
Bovis Homes and Urban Slash have both announced a second round of redundancies driven by the economic slump.
Bovis could make up to 200 more staff redundant as a result of the housing downturn. It would follow the loss of 400 employees in July, which shrank its workforce from around 930 to 530.
Overnight trips fall amid tourism gloom
The number of domestic trips taken by British residents declined dramatically this summer, as the decline in tourism gathered pace.
There were 1.7m fewer overnight domestic trips made by UK residents in August, compared with July – a fall of 11 per cent, according to VisitBritain, the national tourism agency.
Shops’ festive discount reins in inflation
Inflation in the price of high street goods fell to a five-month low in November, with furniture, clothes and shoes cheaper than they were last year, according to the British Retail Consortium.
Pessimism round consumer spending has driven many high street stores to cut prices in an attempt to pull in cash before Christmas, rapidly reducing inflation, according to the BRC’s shop price index.
Hilco appointed to operate The Pier
Hilco UK, the specialist in distressed assets that’s running Woolworths and wants to buy Land of Leather, has been appointed to operate The Pier, the furniture chain that fell into administration on Wednesday.
The collapse of The Pier, which is Icelandic-owned and has concessions in some Debenhams department stores, is the latest example of retailers struggling in the consumer downturn and attracting interest from distressed investors.
Big is better
Chalva Tchigirinski, 59, the Russian billionaire co-owner of Sibir Energy, has been behind some of the biggest excesses of Russia’s property development boom, writes Catherine Belton in Moscow .
ST Group, his development company, last year backed plans to build a “Crystal Island” entertainment and business centre in the south of Moscow designed by Norman Foster that included a 300-metre long glass needle.
Boost on home front as Fed action starts to feed through
Banks and homebuilders were among the favourite stocks as investors hunted for bargains during a volatile session that finished with a strong rally.
Short positions in the battered sectors were squeezed as signs emerged that some of the vast Federal Reserve intervention of recent weeks was beginning to help the housing market.
LA Live! (ugh)
A hopeful rendering: L.A. Live excitement
LA Times critic Christopher Hawthorne yesterday summed up the problems with L.A. Live!, the behemoth development in Downtown LA’s South Park district, whose second phase is now opening. Hawthorne decries its “placelessness,” its buildings that “have almost nothing to say to or round downtown Los Angeles,” and worst of all, its inability to help the rest of the area.
SeeCTV
Andrew Yang
Former AN editor and occasional China correspondent Andrew Yang sent us some pictures recently of what he describes as Beijing’s new, unavoidable landmark. If it’s on the scale of, say, the Empire State Building, we’re not sure, but it’s certainly looks as symbolic. He writes:
ACC Ascends Council
One day earlier than expected, the Philadelphia City Council voted unanimously to amend the zoning lot at 19th Street and Arch Street, site of the proposed American Commerce Center. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the council’s Committee on Rules voted 9-0 in favor of the rezoning.
DJ Thommy Mayne and the Pritzker-Making Hits
KCRW DJ Tom Schnabel and the Mayne Event
Widely accepted as the greatest public radio station on the planet, KCRW is famous for its groundbreaking music played by DJs who are smarter, cooler and infinitely better dressers than you. But last week was a bitter one for LA as the station’s great Nic Harcourt hung up his headphones as music director. For those of you who are already missing Harcourt’s esoteric taste (sometimes a bit difficult to take at 9:03am even after a visit to Intelligensia), never fear: Thom Mayne has stepped into the booth.
Ancient supernova mystery solved
O’Brien out at CNN as network ends space mission
By Paul J. Gough
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - CNN will close its dedicated unit that covered environmental, science and space stories.
The cuts affect around five staffers, including longtime correspondent and space reporter Miles O’Brien, who will leave the network. O’Brien has worked at CNN for 17 years, during which time he covered Space Shuttle launches, anchored programing hours and co-anchored “American Morning.”
EU ends biofuel battle, nears green energy deal
By Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is on the verge of a deal to boost renewable energy after resolving a battle over the controversial issue of biofuels on Thursday, but Italy’s demand for a review in 2014 prevented a final agreement.
Technology may be altering how brains work
Technology may be altering how brains work
Specialist: Intense use of wired world may weaken fundamental social skills
updated 2:01 p.m. ET Dec. 3, 2008
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Greenhouse gas emissions increase in US
Greenhouse gas emissions increase in U.S.
After 2006 decline, there’s a 1.4 percent rise because of cold winter
updated 6:56 p.m. ET Dec. 3, 2008
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Outlook dims for glittering malls
Clichés thrive in the Gulf, but one that resonates more than others is the notion that shopping has become a national pastime, with glitzy malls opening across the region.
It is a trend that Fawaz Alhokair Group, a Saudi retailer, has tapped into since three brothers joined forces to launch a company with just two men’s wear stores.