At an 8 per cent dividend yield shares of Berkeley Group (BKG) pose a bit of a puzzle to investors. Usually such a high yield signals that the market has doubts about the company. On the other hand, however, its shares trade at nearly twice the net asset value, which is as silly a valuation as it is expensive.
Classed as a homebuilder it is in reality more a property developer, transforming urban sites into expensive apartment blocks after navigating what can even be decade-long planning processes. More importantly, the firm has decided to return £1.7bn in cash to shareholders by 2021. Given that its sales seem pretty much locked in even until 2012 the above puzzle is quickly solved. Despite the cautious noises from the company regarding possible rate rises and the upcoming elections the stock remains a ‘buy’, says The Times’ Tempus.
This morning’s announcement from Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, on its deliberations regarding the prices charged by BT (BT.) to rivals for giving them access to its fibre-optic network, should be benign. Yes, come next February the company will also have to announce its pensions deficit, but that should already be priced in. Similarly, it is hard to believe that the company and rival BskyB will go into any sort of aggressive price war. It is simply not in either firm’s interest to slit each others’ throat in public. Given the fact that the above concerns have been overdone the 3.2 per cent dividend yield is a reason to ‘hold’ the stock, Tempus writes.
BUSINESS PRESS HEADLINES:
Mike Ashley has taken a £12m stake in MySale (MYSL) and signed a joint venture agreement with the online retailer — just days after it floated on AIM. The stake-building and strategic joint venture unites two of Britain’s richest retailers. Sir Philip Green, the billionaire owner of TopShop, is one of MySale’s largest shareholders with a 25 per cent holding. Sports Direct (SPD), through which Mr Ashley has acquired the stake, said that it looked “forward to developing its relationship with MySale, including the potential to co-operate on significant collaboration and joint venture opportunities in Australasia and Asia”. – The Times
Menswear retailer Blue Inc has scrapped its £60m flotation plans, the second company to have done so this week amid growing caution about the stability of London’s IPO market. Sir Stuart Rose, the former boss of Marks & Spencer (MKS), had been chairman of both Blue Inc and casualwear retailer Fat Face, but stepped down in April to avoid a conflict of interest when they became publicly listed companies. However, Fat Face also failed to launch in May over wider market fears. – The Daily Telegraph
The company behind the Lidl supermarket chain is set to become western Europe's biggest grocery retailer by 2018 as discounters become mainstream across the continent. "This is an unprecedented power shift in European retail fuelled by the near unstoppable growth of the discount format," said David Gray, author of a report compiled for Planet Retail, the consultancy firm. He predicts that the privately owned Schwarz Group, which is controlled by a German multi-billionaire and owns Lidl together with the Kaufland hypermarket chain, will overtake French group Carrefour and Tesco to generate sales of €80bn (£65bn) by 2018. – The Guardian
NatWest and its parent bank Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have become the latest banks to reduce Isa rates, with just a few weeks until savers can deposit up to £15,000 in the new "super Isas". The changes, the latest evidence of what experts have called a "purge" in rates, will affect the bank's instant-access cash Isas. From August 1st, savers who have between £1 and £24,999 will earn interest of 0.75 per cent, down from the current rate of 1 per cent. Those who have balances of £25,000 and above will get a rate of 1 per cent, down from 1.5 per cent. - The Daily Telegraph
Estate agents listing properties for rent or sale should be forced to list its floor space according to academics, as data reveals more than half of houses in England are failing to meet modern standards on size. According to Cambridge University research, 55 per cent of modern homes do not have a big enough floor area while one in five is short of space when taking into account the number of occupants. The report found that newly built homes in England are the smallest in a league table of floor space of 15 European countries with an average floor space of 76 square metres, compared to 137 in Denmark. – The Daily Mail
China’s second largest bank was yesterday appointed the first clearing bank in London and the first outside Asia for the renminbi (RMB) or yuan. And in a historic move the People’s Bank of China gave approval for direct trading between the yuan and the pound rather than exchanging the currencies through the US dollar. As Beijing relaxes rules on its currency London is bidding against Frankfurt, Paris and Luxembourg to become the main trading centre in the West. - The Daily Express
