Just Group completes £375m fundraising to meet new regulations March 25, 2019 Retirement services firm Just Group shares fell again this morning as it announced it had completed a £375m fundraise to comply with new capital requirement rules. The firm, which unveiled heavy 2018 pre-tax losses earlier this month, said it had issued £300m worth of bonds and raised an extra £75m via an equity placing. Read [...]
iSmash on rivalling Apple for tech repairs and launching more stores in a dying high street March 25, 2019 Many will be familiar with the trauma: you drop your smartphone and the screen shatters into a modern-day mosaic. You either learn to live with shards of glass jabbing your fingers, wait a week for a phone company to fix it, or pay for a bodge job at a corner shop. Except those are no longer [...]
Lloyd’s of London plans clamp down on harassment and bullying March 24, 2019 Lloyd’s of London plans to overhaul workplace culture following reports of sexual harassment and bullying at the 330-year-old insurance market. The company intends to call an emergency meeting with senior staff members to set out ways to make it easier for employees to make formal complaints, the Sunday Times reported. Read more: Lloyd's of London [...]
Simplybiz acquires financial adviser platform Defaqto for £74m March 20, 2019 Simplybiz has acquired financial adviser fintech firm Defaqto for £74.3m. Shares in AIM-listed Simplybiz, a compliance and business services provider, rose more than four per cent on the news. Read more: Business software M&A hits five-year high The combination will create a single fintech and support services group, and the acquisition is expected to enhance earnings during the first [...]
Gold, the Federal Reserve, and the dollar – what’s driving up precious metal prices? March 19, 2019 Gold has been making a comeback. After a long period with little activity last year, the precious metal’s value has risen as stock markets have struggled and fallen. Combine the volatility of equities with the increase in geopolitical fears, and many investors are re-evaluating whether to increase the amount of gold in their portfolios. The [...]
Just Group leads FTSE fallers after revealing £400m fundraising plans March 14, 2019 Retirement services firm Just Group has seen shares fall 11 per cent today after revealing plans to raise almost £400m to comply with new capital requirement rules as it unveiled a heavy loss before tax in 2018. The firm said it plans a debt offering of £300m and will raise a further £80m from an equity [...]
Should the rich be taxed more? March 8, 2019 | City Talk Compared with other developed countries, the UK has a very high level of income inequality, something which many of us feel uncomfortable about. According to the Equality Trust, UK households in the bottom 10 per cent of the population have, on average, a disposable (or net) income of £9,644, with the top 10 per cent [...]
Aviva share price falls as it warns of ‘muted’ 2019 March 7, 2019 Aviva's shares were down five per cent this morning after it warned of a "muted" outlook for 2019 despite reporting rising profits for 2018 today. New boss Maurice Tulloch, appointed earlier this week, said the results showed the insurer’s “strong foundations”. The figures Profit before tax rose to £2.13bn in 2018 from £2bn in 2017 while group operating profit [...]
Retirement villages extend life expectancy for women March 7, 2019 | City Talk Retirement villages can boost the longevity of women by as much as five years compared to the general population, according to a new Cass Business School report. Analysing 100 years’ worth of residents’ records from the Whiteley Homes Trust, a retirement village in Surrey which opened in 1917 to provide housing and support for people [...]
Legal and General shares fall in wake of record £10bn annuities sales March 6, 2019 Legal and General shares fell four per cent this morning as the insurance group reported record sales of annuities in its full-year results. But investors' confidence was knocked after analysts questioned whether the company could continue raising its dividend at the same time. The figures Profit after tax was down three per cent year-on-year for the [...]