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Monday, September 29, 2008

August British Net Mortgage Lending Plunges

William L. Watts

MarketWatch Pulse

LONDON -- Net mortgage lending to individuals in the United Kingdom plunged to 143 million pounds ($263.6 million)in August, the Bank of England reported Monday, the lowest since the statistical series began in 1993 and a steep drop from the downwardly revised 2.998 billion pounds seen in July and the 9.135 billion pounds seen in August 2007. Mortgage approvals also fell to a record low, totaling just 32,000. That's down from 33,000 approvals in July.

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Word of the Day

Same-Store Sales

Most folks judge the health of a business by the revenue that comes in through sales. But not all revenue is equal. Companies can grow their sales by buying other companies, which means you don't get a clear view of how the real sales trends are moving.

So, many analysts, particularly those who look at retail, try to gauge what¿s known as "organic" growth, by looking at same-store sales. These are sales only at outlets open more than a year, so the metric can exclude any sales jump that comes from opening new locations. Retailers release same-store sales (which are frequently called "comps" since they're a true comparison from the previous period) every month.

Retail, incidentally, isn't the only industry to look at same-store sales. Hospital companies, also use the metric, to gauge how existing hospitals are performing compared to ones they just built or acquired.