Legal & General raises dividend as higher interest rates help it profit from pensions buyout boom March 8, 2023 Legal & General (L&) has hiked its dividend after outstripping market expectations by boosting its profits by 12 per cent. Higher profits in L&G’s pensions and life insurance segments offset lower incomes from its asset management business, LGIM, after it suffered from the impacts of market volatility. L&G upped its dividend by five per cent, [...]
Just Group profits on pensions buyout boom as rising interest rates drive record deals March 7, 2023 Just Group today said the boom in pensions buyout deals had helped boost its underlying profits by 19 per cent. The Surrey firm completed 56 pensions de-risking deals, worth £2.6bn, successfully profiting on the pension’s buyout boom. Higher interest rates over the previous year have improved pension scheme funding levels, in a shift that has [...]
United Utilities sewage dumping case heads to Supreme Court March 6, 2023 The UK’s largest listed water company, United Utilities, heads to the Supreme Court this week in a fight over discharge of sewage into the country’s waterways. The Manchester Ship Canal Company, which owns the 36-mile long canal that links Manchester to the Irish Sea, is claiming the water firm’s sewage disposal methods are akin to [...]
UK’s Serious Fraud Office should cover ENRC’s £21m costs in corruption investigation, London’s High Court hears March 6, 2023 Kazakh mining company ENRC today said the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) should, alongside US law firm Dechert, cover extra costs it accrued because of ex-City lawyer Neil Gerrard’s decision to leak company information to the fraud investigator, leading to the launch of a 10-year probe into the former FTSE 100 firm. At the opening [...]
Starbucks faces pressure from German giant Allianz to overhaul approach to unions March 6, 2023 Starbucks today faced mounting pressure over its approach towards unions after German financial services giant Allianz vowed to back a push to force the coffee seller to overhaul its labour policies. Allianz GI today vowed to support an investor resolution calling on Starbucks to overhaul its approach to workers’ unions, following concerns about the coffee [...]
UK’s post-Brexit Solvency II reforms will increase risk of insurers collapsing… by just 0.1 percentage points March 6, 2023 The Bank of England today warned the UK’s planned Solvency II reforms could increase the risk of insurers collapsing… by just 0.1 percentage points. In a letter published today, the BoE’s governor Andrew Bailey said the UK government’s plan to overhaul the EU’s rules will increase the risk of life insurers collapsing by 20 per [...]
UK’s Serious Fraud Office to face Kazakh miner ENRC in court as decade-long legal fight continues March 6, 2023 The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will today face Kazakhstani mining company ENRC in London’s High Court, as it continues its fight against the British government agency almost 10 years after it first launched an investigation into the former FTSE 100 firm. The SFO first launched its investigation into ENRC in April 2013 in relation [...]
EY to push ahead with mid-year promotions after KPMG calls off April round March 5, 2023 EY has said it is pushing ahead with this year’s round of mid-year promotions “as normal,” following reports that Big Four rival KPMG has called off its own round of April promotions. An EY spokesperson told City A.M. the “small number of mid-year promotions” it makes “every year” are “continuing as normal.” KPMG, by contrast, [...]
Lloyd’s of London member Beazley’s profits plummet 48 per cent as interest rate hikes dent portfolio March 2, 2023 Shares in specialist insurer Beazley today fell almost nine per cent after the firm told investors its profits had plummeted in 2022 due to a sharp drop in income from its investment portfolio. The insurer said its overall pre-tax profits fell 48 per cent in the year ending in December 2022 to $191m, as rising [...]
Losing momentum on Solvency II reforms would be a missed opportunity to transform Britain March 2, 2023 This is a once in a generation opportunity. That phrase might have become a bit of a cliché, especially in recent years, but the UK’s exit from the EU could ensure that Solvency II reforms really are one of those events. The proposed reforms represent a very significant opportunity to ensure more private sector capital [...]