FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery amid oil tensions; Khan woos Anthropic AI March 6, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Inflation fears have dominated the week and as for the time being, they don’t look to be heading anywhere. The FTSE 100 ended Thursday’s session slipping 1.5 per cent to 10,413.94p as markets battled renewed fears of an energy crisis. Brent crude futures – the international [...]
Aviva’s profits surge following Direct Line acquisition March 5, 2026 Aviva’s acquisition of Direct Line in 2025 contributed £174m to operating profit for the FTSE 100 giant, as the group’s overall operating profit increased by 25 per cent to £2.2bn. The group informed shareholders that it achieved its 2026 financial targets one year early, specifically reaching its £2bn operating profit and £1.8bn Solvency II own [...]
Double-digit profits at Admiral as dividends rise for shareholders March 5, 2026 FTSE 100 listed insurer Admiral reported double-digit profit growth over the last financial year, as the group pivots itself toward high-tech commercial insurance. The group profit before tax rose 16 per cent to £958m – up from £827m in 2024 – as its UK motor division surpassed the £1bn profit mark. Its other UK personal [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Airline shares fall after Wizz Air profit warning; Primark new boss March 5, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Global markets returned to a touch of stability on Wednesday as energy prices retreated as investors awaited the latest on the events in the Middle East. The FTSE 100 ended the day 0.8 per cent higher at 10,567.65p – still far below it’s level at [...]
Profit slides as Beazley eyes Bermuda amid Zurich £8bn takeover March 4, 2026 One of the UK’s biggest listed insurance firms suffered a slide in profit as the company prepares to be acquired by Swiss giant Zurich. FTSE 100 insurer Beazley posted pre-tax profit of $1.14bn (£870m) for the year to end December 2025, a fall of around a fifth compared to the previous year amid a softening [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks inch back up; UK faces energy bills warning March 4, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Yesterday, Rachel Reeves delivered her Spring Statement. The Chancellor wheeled out new forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility that cut growth for 2026 but – albeit modestly – upgraded it for the years to come. But forecasts were quickly labelled out of date by [...]
UK gas prices spike over 90 per cent amid US-Iran war March 3, 2026 Gas prices in the UK have nearly doubled as the war between US and Iran ramped up since the weekend. The price of UK wholesale gas prices – which reflect the costs energy suppliers pay to producers for natural gas before selling to household and businesses – has rocketed by 93 per cent in just [...]
Spring Statement Live: UK growth cut for 2026 but Reeves touts future forecasts March 3, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Rachel Reeves delivered her Spring Statement today, as the Office for Budget Responsibility published its updated forecasts for the years ahead. The Chancellor was handed quite a hefty blow with the UK’s growth estimate for 2026 slashed to 1.1 per cent from 1.4 per cent the year prior. [...]
Meet Reeves’ outsider tasked with steering the City to growth March 3, 2026 The City has rolled out the red carpet for the banking watchdog’s new chief after Katharine Braddick, a seasoned veteran of the financial trenches, was named on Friday as the successor to Sam Woods. For a cool £314,000 a year, she’s set to take on the brief of steering the UK’s banking sector. Chancellor Rachel [...]
Zurich to leverage Beazley’s Lloyd’s platform for global expansion March 2, 2026 Zurich Insurance Group has reached a formal agreement to acquire FTSE 100 giant Beazley, aiming to create a global leader in speciality insurance. Under the terms of the deal, Beazley shareholders will be entitled to receive a total of 1,335p per Beazley share, which puts the cost of the deal at around $10.9bn (£8.14bn). The [...]