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End of sanctions offers new outlook, says Iran central bank Chief: With Iran’s economy beset by plunging oil prices, international sanctions, anaemic growth and a banking sector saddled with high levels of non-performing loans, the central bank governor has plenty to worry about

Foxtons founder prospers as landlord to wealthy businesses: Jon Hunt, the property billionaire who founded and sold the estate agency chain Foxtons, is banking on wealthy businesses paying big rents to boost revenues further at the property company that he now owns.

Buy-to-let crackdown ‘will raise rents’: Plans to cut tax relief for buy-to-let investors will push up rents and harm tenants more than landlords, mortgage lenders are warning.

The price is going up again, brick by brick: As the prime minister orders 250,000 new homes a year to solve the housing crisis, the price of building materials is going through the roof.

Home sales increase in September: The highest number of homes in about a year and a half changed hands last month, driven by demand at the lower end of the scale. Sales of homes rose to 106,030 from 105,160 in August, according to figures reported by Revenue & Customs. This was the fourth consecutive month that they were above 100,000 and, compared with a year earlier, they were 5.4% higher.

Britain’s top lenders to face tougher stress tests: The seven biggest British lenders will face tougher tests of their financial resilience and may need to hold more capital as part of a drive by regulators to avoid future blow-ups of the financial system. The Bank of England said that, beginning in 2017, it would impose a secondary stress test every other year that will examine extreme and unexpected dangers to banks. The hurdle to pass the tests will become tougher, with the largest institutions expected to hold an extra capital buffer

UK public sector net cash requirement reported a surplus in September Public finances (public sector net cash requirement) in the UK has reported a surplus £17.90 billion in September, as compared to a revised surplus of £0.70 billion in the prior month. UK public sector net borrowing recorded a surplus in September The public sector net borrowing (excluding temporary effects of financial interventions) has posted a surplus of £9.40 billion in September, in the UK, as compared to a revised surplus of £11.60 billion in the previous month. Market expectation was for public sector net borrowing to show a surplus of £10.10 billion.

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.48% or $0.23 higher at $48.08 per barrel. Yesterday, the contract declined 1.77% or $0.86, to settle at $47.85 per barrel, after the Energy Information Administration reported that the US crude stockpiles increased by 8.0 million barrels in the week ended 16 October 2015, which was more than the expectations.

Businesses run from British homes undertake £32 billion of global trade: Post Office International Payments (POIP) estimates that £32 billion of goods have been traded with overseas buyers and sellers from so-called spare room traders, who will utilise websites such as eBay. Approximately 70% of all new businesses start off at home while almost one in five people in the U.K. have sold items profitably to foreign buyers online, POIP said.

Londoners face further rental rate increases: There is no slowing down for rental rates in the capital, with the average cost per month for a one-bed flat coming in at over £1,000 in three quarters of boroughs. Only nine London boroughs have average rents for one-bed flats below £1,000 per month now, according to the monthly Landbay Rental Index.

City Hall Tories want control of stamp duty: Conservatives in City Hall want Whitehall to hand control over stamp duty to local authorities – and are bolstering their case by claiming devolution could lead to more than 40,000 new homes in London each year

BHP Billiton better off together as dual-listing questioned: BHP Billiton’s 14-year listing on the London Stock Exchange is under threat, as financial issues weigh on the Anglo-Australian company. BHP’s dual listing in London and Australia is under renewed focus ahead of tomorrow’s shareholder annual meeting in the U.K. capital. The AGM comes as profits tumble and the company defends rising dividends. The dual listing was created through a marriage of equals when British-based Billiton merged with Australian group Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) in 2001. The deal brought BHP’s huge Australian coal, iron and copper assets together with Billiton’s aluminum, nickel and manganese mines. It also gave the company access to the deep pockets of mining investors in London to fund acquisitions. here are concerns Down Under that with markedly lower profits the company simply cannot afford its large dividends, and investors in London are being paid out of Australian pockets. This is because the iron ore and coal mines in Australia are the most profitable part of the group, and in order to fund dividends to London shareholders, reserves must be transferred from Australia to the U.K.. Australian investors will vote on this issue at their annual meeting in Perth on 19 November. While it is true that the more profitable mines in Australia are supporting the dividend payments, it is too simple to argue that the dual listing should now be unwound. What’s more, this stance is unlikely to garner serious support. The top two investors in BHP’s Australian-listed entity are U.S. groups BlackRock and Vanguard, which own more than 7% of the shares. None of the top international investors is opposing the transfer of reserves from Australia to the U.K.. BHP Billiton at £10.93 -3p. Questor says “Sell”.

Property prices soar in French ski resorts: Alpine boltholes in leading French ski resorts have soared in value this year, in contrast with comparable properties in Switzerland as a weaker Euro and restrictive Swiss laws send international buyers to France.

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.21% or $0.10 lower at $48.61 per barrel, ahead of the Energy Information Administration weekly oil inventory data, scheduled to be released later today. Yesterday, the contract climbed 0.21% or $0.10, to settle at $48.71 per barrel. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute reported that the US crude supplies advanced 7.1 million barrels for the week ended 16 October

In Restaurants, 56 Beefeaters have had a refurb, for which we can all be grateful. Costa Coffee - there are now 1,999 Costa stores in the UK, and the company see scope to push this to 2,500 by 2020, focusing on retail parks, drive thrus, contract catering locations and travel hubs. The Costa Enterprises division, which runs the estate of Costa Express machines added around 10% to its estate and sees longer term growth potential to go toward 8,000 Express units, from 4,708 currently. Overseas, Costa sales grew by 14% in the EMEI region, whilst Asia is still delivering LFL growth, despite the slower Chinese economy. Whitbread expect that the new National Living Wage will add £15-20m to their cost base over the next five years, which they regard as just another of the inflationary costs the business is well accustomed to dealing with. They had already increased Barista pay by 10% to a level above that of the NLW.

Premier Inn is a great product; a clean comfortable room, in a good location at a sensible price. With over 60,000 rooms in the estate, it is the clear market leader in the UK branded budget hotel sector. Costa is omnipresent on UK High Streets and highways, with a rapidly growing overseas presence too. The restaurants business plays a supporting role to the hotels, but struggles to inspire in its own right. The planned growth of the hotel and coffee estates gives excellent visibility of growth, much of which is independent of the economic cycle. Premier Inn has delivered consistently positive LFL sales growth in a variety of economic conditions, underscoring the strength of its proposition. Costa is busily slaking the nation's never ending thirst for caffeine; think of it as an investment play on the UK's long hours work culture. Both businesses have growth plans that envisage expansion of around 40-50% in their estates over a five year period. The stock has retreated by around 10% since the spring, and now trades on circa 18.5x forward earnings, which is a little dearer than its longer run average of 16x. But there are not that many stocks out there offering double-digit organic sales growth. Premier Inn has been slow to gain traction overseas, but the UK estate's growth has more than compensated. The balance sheet is strong, with net debt expected to be circa 1.1x earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, so Whitbread looks capable of funding its growth, without recourse to shareholders. The group is asset-rich, with a lot of hotel freeholds on the balance sheet, and it makes net margins, after tax, of around 15%. As we say, there really aren't that many stocks around which offer market leadership, a history of double digit organic growth, strong profit margins earned from a robust balance sheet and which trade on multiples not too far from their longer run average. Key Details: Hotels & Restaurants - revenues rose 9% to £927m, led by Premier Inn, which grew 13%, whilst Restaurants added 1% to their sales, which Whitbread claim is ahead of a dull wider market. Profits rose 11% and a return on capital of 13% was generated. The group will invest around £600m this year, with around £130m of this being spent on refurbishment and improvements, the rest on growth. 84% of bookings now come in online. The hotels delivered 10.5% sales growth in the regions, whilst London saw 21% growth after a strong increase (21.5%) in available rooms. The trial "hub by Premier Inn" property in St Martin's Lane is performing well, with occupancy of 95.6% and TripAdvisor ratings of 4.5, slightly ahead of the overall Premier Inn score of 4.3. The German expansion progresses, with a first opening in Frankfurt expected in March 2016, with around two hotels a year expected for the next few years as the experiment is tested. In Restaurants, 56 Beefeaters have had a refurb, for which we can all be gr

Wood Group has won a $31m contract to deliver operations management services to Carbon Creek Energy's coalbed methane field in Wyoming. The FTSE 250 oil and gas services company announced the deal on Monday. The contract, which is initially for 12 months and reviewed annually, will create up to 65 new jobs and secure an additional 40 existing jobs. The field in the Powder River basin consists of approximately 7,000 drilled wells, 6,000 to 12,000 drillable locations and currently produces 385m cubic feet of gas per day

Consumer anxiety around rogue traders and cowboy builders is costing the U.K. £6 billion - FMB: Shoddy tradespeople and cowboy builders are costing the U.K. economy more than £6 billion a year, according to new research out from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Oil firms urged to tap into £20billion reservoir: Oil and gas firms in the U.K. can dive into a £20 billion reservoir by tightening up on their working capital, new research has suggested.

U.S. oil services group commits to Aberdeen: The Forum Energy Technologies oil services group has signalled its commitment to the North Sea market by taking a 15 year lease on a new property in Aberdeen in spite of the downturn in the industry. The U.S. group will bring the majority of its Scottish companies together at the new base in the Westhill area while retaining a separate regional head office nearby. Property specialists at CBRE found the new facility for the company. Aberdeen has been impacted by the slowdown in the North Sea that has followed the crude price fall