Direct Line Insurance Group share price rises as it reveals its estimated costs of the storms of up to £140m, while PwC predicts a mixed bag for premiums this year January 12, 2016 Direct Line Insurance Group today revealed that it estimated that this winter’s floods would cost it between £110m and £140m in claims across both its home and commercial divisions. The company stressed that these figures were estimates only and that an actual amount for insured losses could not be given with certainty for some while. After [...]
Deutsche Bank buys new FCA headquarters at Stratford’s International Quarter for £370m January 12, 2016 Deutsche Bank has snapped up an office development in Stratford that will house the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) headquarters, in a £370m deal. The German bank's asset management arm has agreed to forward fund the 515,000 sq ft building, which forms part of a major £2.3bn development next to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park known as the International Quarter. The [...]
Vodafone has won a £75m contract with Scottish Power Energy Networks January 12, 2016 Vodafone has won a £75m contract with Scottish Power Energy Networks to help the utility firm monitor its network delivering electricity to over 3.5m UK homes and businesses. The four-year contract announced today will require Vodafone to run performance monitoring and fault identification systems for over 110,000 kilometres of Scottish Power’s lines and cables. The [...]
Asahi eyeing up SABMiller’s Grolsch and Peroni January 12, 2016 Japanese brewer Asahi Group Holdings is eyeing up SABMiller’s premium brands Grolsch and Peroni as the UK drinks giant hopes to offload beer brands to ease regulatory scrutiny over its merger with AB InBev. Asahi confirmed today it was mulling over the deal, reportedly worth 400bn yen (£2.36bn), which would make it the largest overseas [...]
Aberdeen Asset Management chief executive Martin Gilbert predicts HSBC will keep its headquarters in the UK January 12, 2016 A top investor in HSBC has said that Europe's biggest bank is unlikely to move its headquarters from the UK. "The logistics of moving their headquarters out of London are so vast," Aberdeen Asset Management chief executive Martin Gilbert told Bloomberg TV this morning. "I suspect much as they might want to move their headquarters, [...]
RBS urges clients to “sell everything” except high quality bonds ahead of “cataclysmic year” January 12, 2016 RBS has told its clients to "sell everything" and seek shelter in safe haven assets, at the beginning of what it expects will be a "cataclysmic year". RBS sent a note to investors urging them to sell everything except high quality bonds. "This is about return of capital, not return on capital. In a crowded hall, exit doors are small," it [...]
FTSE 100 index opens up on supermarkets as share price of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer rise following Morrisons results January 12, 2016 The FTSE 100 index opened higher this morning as housebuilders and supermarkets made gains. The UK's blue-chip index rose 0.2 per cent to 5,883 points, led higher by Tesco, Sainsbury's and housebuilder Berkeley Group. The index made gains despite continued scepticism about the state of the Chinese economy. Read more: And they’re off – Shire and Baxalta agree $32bn [...]
AO World post strong third quarter results as it says it is on track to launch in the Netherlands January 12, 2016 Electrical specialist AO World has reported revenue growing in the third quarter as it says the company is on track to launch in the Netherlands and progress has been made in Germany. The figures The company reported that UK revenue for the three months to the end of December were up 24 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile, ao.com's revenue increased by 35 [...]
Virgin Money announces two new appointments to senior executive team, with Peter Bole to join as chief financial officer and Hugh Chater to take on the role of chief commercial officer January 12, 2016 Challenger bank Virgin Money has appointed former Tesco Bank finance chief Peter Bole as its new chief financial officer. In a statement today, the bank said he will join in 2017. Read more: Virgin Money replaces KPMG with PwC as auditors Glen Moreno, chairman of Virgin Money, said Bole is "an accomplished professional with first-class strategic financial management experience. "I [...]
And they’re off: Shire fires the starting gun on 2016’s takeover action with Baxalta deal January 12, 2016 Shire and Baxalta have agreed on their $32bn (£22bn) merger after six months of negotiations, sending Shire's share price plummeting 7.25 per cent yesterday. Despite impressive pre-market gains in New York, Baxalta shares also fell, down 1.55 per cent. Baxalta shareholders will receive $18.00 in cash and 0.1482 Shire shares per Baxalta share, amounting to [...]