The company's shares are not a cheap eat, at about 25 times 2005 earnings, but with earnings growth expected to double, tuck in.. The former electricity regulator Professor Stephen Littlechild called yesterday for the abolition of regulations which he introduced to protect consumers, arguing that they were deterring smaller companies from entering the market and thereby keeping prices too high. Professor Littlechild, who headed Offer for five years until 1998, recommended changes in the way the wholesale electricity market operates to make it easier for new entrants to become suppliers, saying the system was "stacked against them". Obstacles to entry cited by small suppliers included the cost of getting accreditation and credit cover, red tape and the difficulty of purchasing supplies in the wholesale market.At present, the "big six" - British Gas, Powergen, npower, Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern and EDF - have a virtual monopoly, accounting for all but 0.5 per cent of the market, or 100,000 households. Priory Group, psychiatric bolt hole to the stars, yesterday changed hands for an astonishing £875m. Can this 42-strong chain of rehab and mental health clinics really be worth so much, or is ABN Amro as off its head as the company's celebrity clients in paying such a full price? Priory's private equity backers, Doughty Hanson, briefly considered going the IPO route in selling out, but advised by NM Rothschild, it didn't take them long to opt instead for a private sale. Housing completions will be a little more than 10 per cent lower than a year ago. Wimpey expects sales to recover in the second half, putting completions for the year at a similar level to last year.Its order book is running 7 per cent lower by volume and 12 per cent lower by value than at the same time last year, due in part to more orders for cheaper social housing.
Selling prices are expected to remain flat at about £195,000, where they have been stuck since the middle of last year. Gross margins are set to fall from last year's figure because of higher building materials costs and a greater use of incentives to stimulate sales.Meanwhile, Wimpey is seeing bumper sales in the booming housing market in the US.. The company predicted a profit fall in the "low double digits" which will take pre-tax profits down to about £400m for the 26 weeks to 3 July, from £475m a year ago. The news knocked the group's shares down 19.5p to 436.5p. The group said: "Higher interest costs and the impact of lower volumes and margins in the UK will mean group profits in the first half will be well below the record levels achieved last year."In one of the most pessimistic trading updates of the sector, Wimpey, whose chief executive is Peter Johnson, said a healthy start to the year had been short-lived and the market had been sluggish since February, defying expectations of a pick-up once the election was out of the way.The group said first-half sales were down 17.5 per cent on a year ago, despite having 10 per cent more showrooms open. The original business was started in 1963 from one store in Regent Street that was set up by two Austrian entrepreneurs.Mr Fayed said yesterday: "Harrods and Kurt Geiger share some common ground but now is the time for Kurt Geiger to enter the next stage of its development away from the Harrods umbrella."The Kurt Geiger purchase comes after two deals in the consumer and travel sector for Barclays.
In January, it completed the £34m management buyout of Gaucho Grill, the Argentinian-themed restaurant chain. Barclays also backed the £27m buyout of Phase Eight, the women's clothing retailer.. George Wimpey, one of Britain's top three housebuilders, added to the gloom surrounding the housing market yesterday when it warned of a slide in first-half profits of more than 10 per cent and falling margins. Analysts said the lower valuation was more realistic in relation to sector valuations and the industry's growth prospects..