Insurance giants deliver £20bn hit to F&C funds March 13, 2014 FUND manager F&C yesterday said it still faced “financial headwinds” after the pot of money it manages shrank due to big redemptions by insurance investors. The business, which is currently in the midst of a takeover by finance giant Bank of Montreal, said assets under management fell 14 per cent after its insurance clients pulled [...]
Analyst Views: Do the F&C results change your view of the proposed takeover? March 13, 2014 MICHAEL SANDERSON | SOCIETE GENERALE F&C has made progress on its strategic repositioning. However, we move our rating from ‘buy’ to “hold” as see a relatively limited probability of another bidder emerging at this point, and even if another bidder were to emerge, we would not expect a counter offer to be as high as [...]
Profit down 12 per cent at Bupa after a year of big acquisitions March 13, 2014 HEALTH insurer Bupa has announced a 12 per cent drop in pre-tax profits for 2013, down to £514.4m despite growing its customer base by 57 per cent. The group posted an eight per cent increase in revenue to £9.1bn, the first time in Bupa’s history that it has exceeded £9bn. Chief executive Stuart Fletcher said [...]
Europe slams Italy’s failure to balance budget March 13, 2014 NEW ITALIAN Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s reform announcements earlier this week were not enough to avoid criticism from the European Central Bank (ECB) yesterday. The ECB’s monthly bulletin argued that “no tangible progress” had been made by successive Italian governments toward the European Commission’s aim for a balanced structural budget. The report added that the [...]
Groups push for reform not ban of zero hour working contracts March 13, 2014 ZERO hours contracts should be reformed rather than banned, according to announcements from two organisations today, following a consultation on the practice. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says that the government should act against exclusivity clauses rather than the contracts themselves. The change would mean that employers could not prevent employees from [...]
Employment tribunal claims plummet as new fees come in March 13, 2014 FEES introduced by the government last year have discouraged staff from bringing legal cases against their employer, new statistics suggest. Figures released yesterday by the Ministry of Justice show there were 79 per cent fewer tribunals brought between October and December last year, compared to the same period in 2012. Since July 2013 employees must [...]
Price soars as bond investors go loco for Lloyds’ new coco March 13, 2014 THE PRICE of Lloyds capital notes has soared in recent weeks as the bank prepares to swap them for contingent convertible (coco) bonds. The bank is issuing up to £5bn of the new instruments, but the only way to get hold of them is to hold the enhanced capital notes (ECNs) which the bank is retiring. However, [...]
Shock setback for Ireland as GDP contracts March 13, 2014 IRELAND’S economy unexpectedly shrank by 2.3 per cent in the final three months of last year, knocking the Eurozone country’s recovery. The official estimate, released yesterday, means that Irish GDP contracted by 0.3 per cent in 2013. Yet there was better news for the formerly bailed-out state, as it returned to standard bond auctions for [...]
Unions threaten to strike after government backtracks on pay March 13, 2014 UNIONS in the public sector are threatening strike action after the government chose to ignore the recommendations of the independent review body for pay, awarding a one per cent increase to some but not all workers in the NHS. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced yesterday that 550,000 NHS workers will get a one per cent [...]
Bundesbank reports profit hike with warning on interest rates March 13, 2014 GERMANY’S central bank will boost the government’s coffers by €4.6bn (£3.84bn) this year, announcing a significant profit in its annual report yesterday, up from €664m last year. The Bundesbank also warned the European Central Bank (ECB) not to stray from its inflation target, despite “controversial decisions” since the Eurozone crisis. The currency union has an [...]