Below is a selection of the morning's key market news, earning reports & trending stories - see more here.
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House prices have fallen by 2.3% this month, according to a new study.
Research by Rightmove (RMV) has found that the average asking price for a new property has fallen by 2.3% in August - an average of £7,200.
In London, house prices dropped by 3.1% from July to August. This change occurred because of more sellers entering the market in a peak summer holiday month.
This is compared to an annual price increase of 1.1% across the country to £301,973.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst, said: “The market started its most recent cyclical price upturn in 2010, and since then the average price of property coming to market has gone up by 32 per cent, stretching buyer affordability.
“More substantial discounts are therefore required to tempt warier buyers, with higher house prices also tightening the purse strings of lenders.”
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Mulberry has issued a profit warning after the collapse of House of Fraser and its subsequent purchase by Sports Direct.
The luxury handbag maker said the retailer’s collapse could cost Mulberry as much as £3m in its next trading update.
In a profit warning, Mulberry said “the UK market has continued to remain challenging and sales in House of Fraser stores have been particularly affected.
"If these sales trends in the UK continue into the key trading period of the second half of the financial year, the group's profit for the whole year will be materially reduced.”
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The Ministry of Justice has taken control of HMP Birmingham from contractor G4S (GFS) .
The decision comes after an inspection into the prison discovered squalid living conditions, evidence of drink and drug use amongst prisoners and high levels of violence.
The chief inspector of prisons, Peter Clarke said the reporting contained “some of the most disturbing evidence that inspectors have seen in any prison” and that "there is an urgent and pressing need to address the squalor, violence, prevalence of drugs and looming lack of control”.
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NMC Health (NMC) posted interim results today, reporting a profit increase of 19.3% to $116.7m.
On what is a quiet week for earnings reports, the Abu Dhabi-headquartered healthcare chain and distribution business also announced that revenues had increased 20% to $932m.
The company also announced it is acquiring Aspen Healthcare from Tenet Healthcare for £10m.
CEO Prasanth Manghat said: "The first half of 2018 saw NMC continue to demonstrate strong organic growth alongside complementary acquisitions, resulting in the realisation of improvedfinancial results which more fully reflect the effect of previous integration and revenue enhancing activities.
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