House Prices 'Jumped 1.4% In December'

House prices in the UK rose by the biggest amount in more than four years in December, according to mortgage lender Nationwide.

It measured a 1.4% increase in the month - its best performance since August 2009 - leaving annual growth in the year to December at 8.4%.

The surge, Nationwide calculated, raised the average house price to £175,826 but London continues to outperform the rest of the country.

Prices in the capital are now 14% above their 2007 peak with the price of a typical London home at £345,186.

The North of England remains the weakest performing region though each region achieved growth in the three months to the end of December.

The latest data will further fuel concerns that the second phase of the Government's Help To Buy scheme is only likely to raise prices but it appears it is helping the construction industry that was hammered by the financial crisis.

Official figures have shown that new home-building boosted Britain's construction industry in December.

It reported its second-fastest month of growth in more than six years - although it was slightly lower than the previous month.

Construction PMI fell to 62.1 in December from November's reading of 62.6, the index's highest level since August 2007. 

And the upward trend looks set to continue. The number of people attempting to get on the property ladder using the Government's Help to Buy scheme has trebled in the last two months.

In November, figures showed in the first month of the scheme's launch more than 2,000 people had put in offers on homes and applied for a Help to Buy mortgage.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said the scheme led to 6,000 extra mortgage applications between October and December.

Separate figures from the Bank  of England showed the number of mortgage approvals at their highest level since January 2008 with almost 71,000 loans handed out in November. 

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Spain: Unemployment Figure Shrinks In December

Signs of a recovery may be starting to show in Spain as the number of people out of work fell by the biggest amount on record in December.

The number of people registered as unemployed shrank by 107,570 last month, leaving the country's total out-of-work figure at around 4.7 million.

During 2013 as a whole, the number dropped by 147,385 - the first full calendar year of decline since the financial crisis began.

Although the figure is likely to have been affected by extra people being taken on by retailers in the run-up to Christmas, it is seen as an indication of a wider improvement in the Spanish economy. 

The number of under-25s out of work also improved. Over the full year, 44,051 found work - with December alone accounting for 39,742 of the total. 

The Secretary of State for Employment, Engracia Hidalgo said the Labour Ministry was committed to improving the situation for Spain's young people, saying: "We hope to further reduce unemployment among our youth in 2014.

"These are encouraging figures which inspire us to continue working for the recovery and employment in 2014."

Across Spain's 14 regions the most improvement was seen in Andalucia, where 30,467 people found work in December and in Madrid which saw an 14,706 increase. However, only 209 people in Galicia found work in the month. 

The biggest employer was the services sector which took on 87,253 people and agriculture and fisheries, which employed 8,890.

A separate quarterly survey from the country's statistics body, the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (INE) put the unemployment rate at 26% in the third quarter, the equivalent of six million people. The rate is second only to Greece in the European Union.

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Debenhams CFO Quits After Profits Warning

The chief financial officer at Debenhams has quit the retailer, just 48 hours after it issued a post-Christmas profits warning.

Simon Herrick had already been under pressure, according to media reports, after he asked suppliers for a discount on goods just eight days before Christmas in what was seen as a 'Santa tax'.

The department store chain denied at the time of his letter to suppliers that it was an attempt to boost fragile festive trading.

In the letter he wrote: "As we will mutually benefit from the growth of Debenhams we are now seeking a contribution from our suppliers to support our commitment to on-going investment."

He said this would include: "A single-sum contribution on all outstanding payments on your account at close December 17.

"An additional discount of 2.5% applied to all open orders on our system at close on December 17.

"This is a contribution and not a permanent amendment to your trading terms with Debenhams," the letter said.

The company, which lowered its profit outlook on Tuesday after the hoped-for surge in last-minute Christmas shopping failed to materialise, said a search to find a replacement for Mr Herrick was under way.

Neil Kennedy, director of finance, has assumed the role of acting chief financial officer on an interim basis, Debenhams said.

The chain blamed its poor Christmas performance on the continuing decline of the high street, the impact of the recession on household incomes and bad weather.

The retailer said it was planning to slash prices in January and February.

Michael Sharp, chief executive of Debenhams, said on Tuesday: "As has been widely commented on in the media, the market was highly promotional in the run-up to Christmas and we responded to these conditions to ensure our offer was competitive.

"However, this extremely difficult environment has inevitably had an impact on both our sales and profitability."

The announcement, which had been due on January 17, saw the retailer reveal an £85m profit for the 17 weeks to December 28 – some way off the £114.7m in the same period last year, a 26% drop.

The company's statement showed that online sales had increased by 27% during that time and accounted for 15.6% of total sales, compared to 12.4% for the same period last year.

Its share price has tumbled by 20% over the past month.

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Xmas Storms: Ofgem May Fine Power Networks

The energy regulator has threatened to impose fines on power line operators after the Christmas storms which left hundreds of thousands without electricity.

Ian Marlee, senior partner at Ofgem, told Sky News that while praise was due to power networks which reacted swiftly in horrendous weather conditions, it remained to be seen whether reconnection delays of up to five days were justified.

More than 150,000 homes were cut off after strong winds, torrential rain and flooding caused damage and company bosses are due to be called before a committee of MPs to explain their response.

The Government called on the distributors to cancel Christmas holidays at the height of the crisis amid suggestions they were unable to cope with the scale of the damage to supplies because of the festive season.

On a visit to Yalding in Kent to see villagers affected by flooding and thank rescuers, the Prime Minister was confronted by one resident who claimed they were abandoned.

Basil Scarsella, chief executive of UK Power Networks which owns electricity lines and cables in London, the South East and east of England, has already admitted it was not prepared for the storm and too many staff were on holiday.

The company has pledged to increase payments for 48 to 60-hour outages from £27 to £75 for those affected on Christmas Day as "a gesture of goodwill".

Additional payments will be made to customers who have been without electricity for longer than that time - up to a maximum of £432.

Mr Marlee said today of the distributors: "They had learned the lessons of the past, for example in offering Christmas meals out to people through mobile catering, and working together with other companies.

"But there are still some questions remaining: Were they sufficiently well prepared, did they actually reconnect people fast enough and indeed was the information they provided sufficient?

"We will get reports back from the companies and clearly we will look at that and if there is regulatory action that needs to be taken then we will do so."

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Snapchat: Worried Users Search Hacked Database

Snapchat users in the US are waiting to see whether their privacy has been compromised after hackers claimed to have leaked the phone numbers and usernames of 4.6 million accounts.

The unidentified hackers say they carried out the attack to raise awareness of a security loophole in the database of the social media application.

In a statement emailed to website TechCrunch, the hackers said: "Our motivation behind the release was to raise the public awareness around the issue.

Were you hacked? Users can check online if their account was compromised

"It is understandable that tech start-ups have limited resources but security and privacy should not be a secondary goal.

"Security matters as much as user experience does.

"You wouldn't want to eat at a restaurant that spends millions on decoration, but barely anything on cleanliness."

The alleged database was originally published online with two digits of the phone numbers redacted.

The link was down when Sky News visited the site.

The attack comes a week after internet security firm Gibson Security warned the site could be vulnerable to attack.

Snapchat responded by publicly labelling the weakness "theoretical".

Gibson Security has set up a database search facility where concerned account holders can enter their username to see if their account has been compromised.

According to the company, only the account details for users in some areas of the US were hacked.

A message on its website said: "Are you part of the recent 4.6 million Snapchat user leak? Let's hope not. Enter your username below to find out.

"NB Only specific areas of America were included – if you're outside of America or not in an area code detailed here you're probably fine."

An employee of Gibson Security explained to Sky News how the vulnerability was likely exploited by the attackers.

"Snapchat has a feature which uploads your address book to their server as well as your phone number, and compares the phone numbers in your address book to the phone numbers of Snapchat users.

"This feature exists in other applications and is fundamentally broken; one could iterate through ranges of mobile phone numbers and match usernames to phone numbers."

Snapchat claims on its website to take the privacy of its users seriously: "We take reasonable measures to help protect information about you from loss, theft, misuse and unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction."

Created by students at Stanford University in 2011, Snapchat reportedly rejected a $3bn (£1.8bn) takeover offer from Facebook last year.

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Xmas Cheer For John Lewis And House Of Fraser

House of Fraser has reported its best Christmas while John Lewis also credited stronger online business for an increase in festive sales.

The two department store chains' fortunes were in stark contrast to those of rival Debenhams, which has issued a profits warning and confirmed it had lost its chief financial officer in the wake of poor sales.

House of Fraser, which trades from 61 stores in Britain and Ireland, said like-for-like sales excluding VAT for the three weeks to December 28 rose 7.3%, with online sales up 57.7%.

Like-for-like sales excluding VAT for the first nine weeks of its fourth quarter were up 4.3%, the firm said, adding it expected to finish the year with lower net debt, which stood at £157.2m for the year to January 26 2013.

The firm, which made a loss before tax and exceptional items of £6.9m in its last fiscal year, has reportedly been in talks with French department stores group Galeries Lafayette over a possible sale.

It has spent almost a decade under private ownership but had been considering a return to the stock market after previous attempts at a possible trade sale had failed.

John Lewis said it had grown like-for-like sales by 6.9% over the five weeks to December 28, with total sales topping £734m.

That performance included a 1.2% boost for its stores and a 22.6% rise in online takings compared with 2012.

The first day of clearance sales in branches on December 27 saw the biggest ever day of trading across the business, taking £35.6m.

John Lewis also highlighted what it called the UK's first 'mobile Christmas' as three-quarters of Christmas Day online traffic came from phones and tablet computers.

Managing director Andy Street said sales over the five weeks had taken a different shape to previous years, with an early peak and a "huge surge" in the last 10 days, including a frenetic Monday two days before Christmas.

"Many of the big online shopping days and weeks occurred earlier in the period but shops were packed in the last-minute rush on 'manic Monday' when we saw our city centre shops record peak days," he said.

He added that "must-have" items included tablet computers, Christmas lights and coffee machines.

Sales at John Lewis, which regularly publishes weekly trading figures, are seen by analysts as a useful insight into spending patterns - though its customers are viewed as less likely to be affected by the squeeze in income than average shoppers.

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Rail Overcrowding: First Class May Be Axed

Rail Fare Rises Revealed By Route

Updated: 2:21am UK, Thursday 02 January 2014

The rise in rail fares depends on the route passengers are taking. Here are some examples.

ROUTE                                   JAN 2013   JAN 2014     PERCENTAGE

RISE

Leeds-Wakefield                    £964           £992             2.9%

Basingstoke-London              £3,952        £4,076          3.13%

Ramsgate-London                  £4,864        £5,012          3.04%

Folkestone Central -London   £4,836         £4,984          3.06%

Bedford-London                     £4,172         £4,300          3.07%

Sevenoaks-London                £3,112         £3,208          3.08%

Cheltenham Spa-London        £9,184        £9,468          3.09%

Deal-London                            £4,864          £5,012         3.04%

Woking-London                       £2,896         £2,980         2.9%

West Malling-London             £3,876         £3,996         3.1%

Guildford-London                    £3,224         £3,320         2.98%

Dover Priory-London             £4,864          £5,012          3.04%

Ludlow-Hereford                    £1,992         £2,032          2%

Morpeth-Newcastle               £1,008         £1,040           3.17%

Milton Keynes-London           £4,620          £4,772           3.29%

Tunbridge Wells- London      £4,132          £4,260           3.1%

Aylesbury-London                  £3,632          £3,732           2.75%

Hastings-London                   £4,304          £4,432           2.97%

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Storms: Call To Tackle Winter Transport Chaos

More needs to be done to ensure motorists as well as rail and air passengers have better up-to-date "vital" information during times of severe winter weather, MPs have said.

Train companies and airports must do better at keeping travellers informed of changes and disruption to services, said the Transport Committee.

It said the chaos caused to the transport network during recent flooding and storms showed that disruption was not just caused by snow.

A tree is brought down by severe gales onto a rail track, blocking the line

MPs also called for more action to keep pavements clear of snow and ice - and a national advertising campaign to make sure residents were aware they have the right to clear any snow and ice from outside their homes without fear of being sued by anyone slipping over.

And they said aviation regulators had to "get to the bottom of what went wrong" last week when thousands of passengers were stranded over the Christmas period due to a power failure at Gatwick airport during the stormy weather.

Transport's winter resilience had improved but there was a risk that a few years of mild winter weather "could lead to a false sense of security and reduce the sector's preparedness over the longer term", the report said.

Committee chairman Louise Ellman said:  "We recognise that some progress has been made by Government and transport providers to improve public information and passenger welfare during severe weather.

"In particular, pro-active decision-making by rail and aviation operators to reduce or cancel services ahead of a major event has reduced disruption.

MPs say passengers need more real-time information to plan journeys

"Nevertheless, we believe there remains considerable scope for further improvement across the transport sector."

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Transport operators have been working hard to keep the public informed during the recent severe weather, but they should not be complacent and must continue to explore how best to keep the country moving during bad weather."

An Office of Rail Regulation spokesman said: "We continue to closely monitor how the industry responds to significant events such as the recent floods.

"Over the coming year, we will be reviewing the rail industry's code of practice on providing passenger information to identify further improvements that can be made to benefit rail users."

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Next Raises Profit Forecast After Strong Xmas

Next expects to make an annual profit of as much as £700m on the back of the festive season.

Britain's second largest clothing retailer said that sales over the fourth quarter were "significantly ahead of expectations" and it has raised its full-year profit forecast to between £684m and £700m.

The company, which has a policy of not discounting before Christmas, saw retail sales from the November 1 until December 24 up 7.7%.

Total sales for the period rose 11.9%, compared with a rise of 4.3% in the third quarter.

Its web-based operation, Next Directory, performed particularly well with sales up 21%.

The company attributed this to increased confidence in online deliveries with orders being placed right up to the weekend before Christmas.

However, it cautioned that the strength shown would be unlikely to continue through the first half of the new financial year because wages are still not growing.

Next, which has more than 500 stores across the UK and Ireland and around 200 stores in more than 30 countries around the world, is to issue a special dividend of 50p per share from surplus cash which will be paid to shareholders on February 3.

It expects to generate a further surplus of £300m in the coming year which it will distribute in a similar way or via buybacks - a way of increasing the value of outstanding shares by reducing the number of shares in the market - depending on the share price.

The share price hit an all-time high on Friday and looks set to overtake Marks & Spencer as Britain's number one clothing retailer. 

Its fortunes are in stark contrast to high-street rival Debenhams, which has been forced to slash prices after issuing a profits warning following poor Christmas sales.

Shares in the department store chain plunged after it disclosed profits of nearly £30m lower than last year.

The chief financial officer quit the retailer just 48 hours after it issued the warning.

All eyes will now turn to Marks & Spencer which reports its results for the festive season next Thursday.

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Alicia Keys And BlackBerry Part Company

Grammy-winning Alicia Keys and BlackBerry are cutting ties just one year after the singer was hired as a 'creative director' for the struggling smartphone maker.

The Canadian company partnered with the singer-songwriter in January 2013 when it launched its much-delayed BlackBerry  Z10.

The relationship between it and Ms Keys got off to a bad start when early on some technology blogs alleged that a tweet from the star appeared to have been sent from an iPhone. 

The Z10 was BlackBerry's first full touch-screen phone but proved unpopular with customers who preferred to hold onto earlier models with their easy-to-use keyboards. And even the glamour of a worldwide popstar was not enough to tempt people to flock to the new model. 

In a statement BlackBerry thanked Ms Keys for her part in the year-long collaboration:

"We thank Alicia for her many contributions including providing creative direction for the BlackBerry Keep Moving Project which attracted more than 40m visits."

BlackBerry, which once dominated the corporate smartphone arena, has struggled in recent years to stop rapid market share losses to the likes of Apple and Samsung. 

In September, the smartphone maker announced it would slash 4,500 jobs worldwide in a desperate attempt to cut costs. And in December, it reported a loss of £2.7bn ($4.4bn) in its third quarter.

The company is now retreating from the consumer market to focus on businesses, governments and other large organisations.  

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