ABI warns 200,000 could miss out on flood insurance March 7, 2012 THE ASSOCIATION of British Insurers (ABI) says the government must come to a new agreement soon if it wants to secure a sustainable flood insurance market in the UK. It claims that up to 200,000 property owners will struggle to get affordable insurance when the current agreement ends in June 2013. At the moment insurers [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN ADMIRAL BOOST PROFITS IN 2012? March 7, 2012 NICK JOHNSON NUMIS UK customer growth slowed in the second half of the year to a 10 per cent annualised increase from 30 per cent in the first half, as Admiral switched from raising rates a little less than the market to a little more. The group put through average rate increases of 15 per [...]
City shrinks but Jupiter goes red hot March 7, 2012 THE CHIEF executive of Jupiter warned the financial services sector would continue to shrink as a proportion of Britain’s economy as the fund manager posted a jump in annual profits. Edward Bonham Carter also said his sector has to work harder to give value for money as the City adjusts after a long period of [...]
Lebanese PM lifts stake in Sainsbury’s March 7, 2012 AN INVESTMENT fund founded by the Lebanese Prime Minister yesterday upped its stake in Sainsbury’s to more than three per cent, lifting the supermarket’s share during afternoon trading. Founded more than 40 years ago by brothers Taha and Najib Mikati – who has twice served as Lebanese PM since 2005 – the M1 Group today [...]
Heathrow’s retail sales are booming March 7, 2012 RETAILERS at Heathrow are bucking the gloom in the high street with an 8.8 per cent rise in gross turnover in 2011, fuelled by a growing number of shoppers from the BRIC nations, the airport said yesterday. Heathrow reported record annual traffic last month, and its shops are cashing in on this jump by offering [...]
General Electric strikes deal on Kings Cross Central move March 7, 2012 US ENGINEERING giant General Electric has signed a deal to occupy a former Olympic landmark building in Argent’s huge King’s Cross central development scheme this summer. The so-called German Gymnasium next to King’s Cross Station was built by the German gymnastic team in 1865 and was used to host events at the 1866 London Olympic [...]
Remploy to close factories March 7, 2012 Remploy – a specialist employment agency for people with disabilities – is planning to close 36 of its 54 factories in the UK, leading to the compulsory redundancies of 1,752 people. Remploy will close the sites before the end of 2012 as they are unlikely to become financially viable, the minister for disabled people Maria [...]
GE Healthcare buys Xcellerex March 7, 2012 GE Healthcare is taking over Xcellerex, a supplier of biomanufacturing technologies, to expand its antibodies and vaccines offerings. This is the first time GE has made an acquisition in the bioprocessing sector since August 2011, when it bought PAA Laboratories. Jeffries was the sell-side adviser to Xcellerex, its seventh mandate in the past year in [...]
Mulberry forks out for new boss March 7, 2012 Luxury bag designer Mulberry has spent £3.39m on welcoming its new boss from rival firm Hermès. The British label dished out 200,670 shares to its new chief executive Bruno Guillon, who paid just £2 for each £18.90 share – leaving Mulberry to pay for the remaining £16.90 per share. However, Guillon will only reap value [...]
German fund sells City buildings March 7, 2012 German real estate fund KanAm Grund has sold two City office buildings to Malaysian investment fund Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) in another sign of overseas investors flocking to the Capital. KanAm said PNB had agreed to buy the European Bank of Reconstruction & Development’s head office next to Liverpool Street station.