UFO Info Week-End

Peter Johnson his opposite number at Wimpey said it was too early to say whether an upturn would

Peter Johnson, his opposite number at Wimpey, said it was too early to say whether an upturn would come by then, although the outlook was not as poor as it had been earlier this year. Wimpey’s first-half profits were down by 21 per cent.Nearly half of Taylor Woodrow’s profits come from overseas, helping offset the decline in the UK market. In the six months to the end of June, UK housebuilding profits fell 18 per cent but profits from the US and Spain grew by 38 and 47 per cent.Wimpey’s first-half profit decline would have been greater but for a 69 per cent increase in US earnings, which helped offset a 33 per cent decline in the contribution from UK housebuilding.Mr Napier said Taylor Woodrow was already sold out for this year in the US where prices are rising by 10 per cent. In the UK, prices have remained flat, taking into account the increased amount of social housing the company completed in the first half.

While reservations on new homes in the UK were up by 5 per cent in July and August, that was not necessarily a reliable guide for the rest of the year.Taylor Woodrow said its housing order book, at £1.6bn, and its housing land bank, at slightly less than 75,000 plots, stood at record levels. However, the company took a sideswipe at the UK’s planning regulations which prevented enough new homes being built even though the country had the oldest housing stock in Europe.. Hays, the former conglomerate which shed its haulage and private mail divisions last year to focus on specialist recruitment, disappointed investors yesterday by reporting slower growth in the first two months of its current financial year. Shares in the group, which successfully demerged its DX Services business in November, fell 7 per cent as Hays announced that net fees grew by only 13 per cent in July and August compared with 16 per cent in the year to June.
The disappointing trading news took the shine off a 25 per cent rise in operating profits and a pledge to increase the share buy-back programme as Hays unveiled its maiden set of annual results as a pure personnel recruitment company. Operating profits before goodwill amortisation for the continuing businesses rose from £133m to £167m.Denis Waxman, the chief executive of Hays, shrugged off its performance in July and August, arguing that it was a traditionally quiet period for the recruitment industry.However, investors were unnerved by Hays’ admission that the slowdown in growth was most pronounced in the UK and Ireland, which accounts for three-quarters of the group’s business.Mr Waxman said that provided the UK economy did not slow further, then Hays, which specialises in accountancy and finance, IT and construction recruitment, would fare reasonably well. Hays, which employs a little more than 5,000 staff in 326 offices, said it expected growth in operations this year to be similar to last year, when it took on 19 per cent more recruitment consultants and opened 27 offices.Mr Waxman said new financial compliance rules and the growth in private finance initiative projects mean that recruitment levels are holding up well. He also argued that while profit levels across the recruitment industry were only now on a level with those during its last cyclical peak in 2000, Hays’ profits were 42 per cent higher.Mr Waxman added that the industry was still in the early stages of the current cycle, with wage inflation running at 4-5 per cent.

At the peak of the last cycle five years ago, it rose to more than 8 per cent.Since the demerger, Hays has bought back £183.7m of its own shares. The board has now decided to seek shareholder approval to extend the buy-back to at least £300m.. The party seems to be over for PartyGaming almost before it’s begun. Floated less than three months ago amid much excitement and hype, the shares yesterday lost fully a third of their value after the online poker operator warned that growth was moderating and that average yield per customer was falling more steeply than anticipated. But at the moment all she’s proposing is flatter taxes, not the full monty.Interestingly, Britain’s shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, positioned himself in exactly the same space yesterday by arguing that with growing international competition, the case for flatter, simpler and lower taxes was already unarguable. “I also believe that a flat tax, even with the obvious obstacles, needs serious consideration,” he said.So where’s the catch? Flat rate taxes are frequently condemned as unprogressive In fact the reverse may be true.