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Grainger Plc (GRI.L) Announced that it has agreed terms with an affiliate of the Lone Star Funds for the sale of its interest in New Sovereign Reversions Limited (Sovereign) to Lone Star Real Estate Fund III (LSREF III). New Sovereign Reversions Limited was a 50:50 Joint Venture between Grainger and Moorfield Real Estate Fund II (MREF II). The company will receive a total cash consideration of c.£18.5 million subject to completion adjustments for its interest in the portfolio, representing an anticipated pre-tax profit of c.£4.5 million and post-tax profit of c.£3.6 million, which will be treated as a non-recurring item.

The latest First Time Buyer Tracker from Your Move and Reeds Rains has revealed a sharp fall in the number of first-time buyer (FTB) transactions during Q1 2015, with just 60,900 being recorded. Down from 79,900 in Q4 2014, it's the lowest quarterly total seen since Q1 2013 (51,000). On a monthly basis, the sector showed signs of improvement, with 23,300 transactions in March - up 24.6% from February - but it's still an annual drop of 3.7%. These lower volumes come despite the fact that typical mortgage rates for FTBs have fallen to a five-year low (3.64%), while the average LTV is the highest seen since last April, standing at 83.5%. Mortgage payments are also taking up a smaller proportion of typical income, with 19.9% of gross earnings being spent on repayments in March, down from 20.1% in February and 21.9% in March 2014. As such, the drop in activity is largely unexpected, and arguably the result of wider pressures. "Cheaper mortgages and a steadier property market should be boosting first-time buyers," said Adrian Gill of Your Move and Reeds Rains. "It's a great time to get on the ladder according to these headline fundamentals, yet for many thousands of would-be new buyers there is still a very real difficulty in matching their personal finances to a home they can afford. Some might also point to election uncertainty, [but] the real bottle-neck is a much more serious and longer term problem… a lack of new homes is catching up with the property market."

LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - BG Chief Executive Helge Lund on Tuesday welcomed with "mixed emotions" Royal Dutch Shell's $70 billion takeover bid, which came only two months after he took office. Speaking at BG's annual general meeting in Reading, England, the former Statoil boss said there is still much to do before the transaction can complete but that Shell's bid, at a 50 percent premium to BG's share price on April 7, maximises BG's value while removing potential risks. "This is a strong deal for our shareholders," he said. "That said, you will understand that, from a leadership perspective, I do have slightly mixed emotions as I was looking forward to taking BG forward and a takeover was certainly not in my mind when I joined the company." Lund took office on Feb. 9 with a mandate to turn BG around after a string of profit warnings and delays on major projects. Completion of the agreed takeover will trigger payouts for Lund that could see his first year's pay top 32 million pounds ($47.8 million), a Reuters analysis of corporate filings showed last month. Shell's offer, first raised in a mid-March phone call between Shell CEO Ben van Beurden and BG Chairman Andrew Gould, was announced on April 7.

Royal Dutch Shell's chief financial officer sold £0.4m worth in shares one week after the oil giant reported a decline in unadjusted profits during the first quarter of the year. Simon Henry sold 20,000 shares for an individual price of 2117p, bringing home £423,400. Shell said last Thursday at the time of the release of its results that earnings were affected by the decline in oil and gas prices and lower trading contributions. The results were however, better than analysts' expectations.

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading marginally higher at $66.45 per barrel, ahead of the American Petroleum Institute weekly oil inventory data, scheduled to be released later today. Yesterday, the contract declined slightly or $0.01, to settle at $66.45 per barrel.

Saudi Arabia has split its state oil company from its petroleum ministry in the biggest shake up of the country’s fossil fuel industry for the last 50 years. The country’s new ruler, King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, issued a decree last week splitting Saudi Aramco from the control of the ministry, which is headed by the country’s long-serving oil minister Ali al-Naimi. King Salman also named Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Aramco’s chief executive, as chairman of the company and health minister as part of a wider political reshuffle. He has been replaced by Aramco senior vice-president Amin al-Nasser. The move could also signal that Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman — a long-serving member of Saudi Arabia’s Opec delegation — is being lined up to replace Mr al-Naimi. The prince was recently promoted to the role of deputy oil minister from assistant oil minister. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter with the capacity to pump more than 12m barrels per day of crude if required.

Increasing supply of new homes only solution to housing crisis, say industry insiders: The political parties have rushed out a series of promises reflecting public concern at a dysfunctional housing market, but the industry has unanimously dismissed them as failing to recognise the key issue - the supply of new homes.

Cluff gets £339,000 pay package: The Founder of Cluff Natural Resources has been paid more than £339,000 for its most recent financial year.

I believe the outlook on a 3 year level is excellent although I expect only a 5-10% rise in profits this year due to flat London House Price inflation in 2015 IMHO. The Joint Venture with National Grid is another leg to growth for the company over the next 5 years. Tony Pidgley has delivered outstanding results for shareholders for well over a decade now.

Factories fall-off is a fresh blow to finances just days before the General Election: Britain’s manufacturers suffered a slowdown last month – raising fresh concerns about the health of the economy just days before the General Election.

Sky to sell ad space on Channel 5 after striking £250 million deal with Viacom: Sky will sell advertising space on Channel 5 and its sister channels 5 U.S.A and 5* after striking a £250 million deal with Owners Viacom

City traders take a punt on fall in Sainsbury’s shares as supermarket is set to post worst results in a decade: City traders are gambling on share price falls at Sainsbury’s, just days before the supermarket releases results that are expected to be the worst for a decade.

TSB sell-off dents Lloyds profits: Lloyds Banking Group has taken a £745 million hit from its TSB branch network, denting profits at the bailed-out bank in the first three months of the year

Big Brother’ house for mice helps Rentokil fight rodents: Rentokil has developed a “mouse Big Brother house” so that the pest control company can learn how best to defeat its furry foes.

Brazil’s oil capital on its knees as paymaster battles embezzlement fraud investigation: The embezzlement investigation into Petrobras, Brazil’s state-owned energy company, has hit Macaé, the country’s oil capital, hard

Morrisons prepares for further profit fall with fresh price cuts: The board of Wm Morrison has paved the way for new Boss David Potts to begin a fresh round of swingeing price cuts and reset the retailer’s profit margins by refusing to set financial targets on bonuses until he has conducted a strategic review.

Virgin Money boosts mortgage lending to £1.6 billion: Virgin Money increased its gross mortgage lending by a third to £1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2015 year-on-year with the challenger bank estimating it provided 3.6% of gross lending during the first three months of the year.

U.S. and Canada toughen oil transport rules: The Canadian and U.S. governments have introduced sweeping new rules to make shipping crude by rail safer, nearly two years after a runaway oil train exploded in Quebec, killing 47 people and raising public pressure on lawmakers to take action.

Mike Wells replaces Tidjane Thiam at Prudential on £7.5 million deal: Prudential ended weeks of speculation about its future by appointing Mike Wells as its new Chief Executive on a £7.5 million pay package

Malaysia Boss begins with plans for sell-off: It has been billed as the toughest job in international aviation, particularly as speculation is rife that Malaysia Airlines is to drastically reshape its business model.