Greece approves tough £30bn austerity bill as riots continue May 6, 2010 THE GREEK Parliament has passed a bill containing proposed austerity measures that will see the country lay down heavy taxes and slash pensions in a bid to cut the country’s spiralling debt pile. A majority of 151 lawmakers, out of 300, voted in favour of the bill, despite an ongoing raft of violent protests by [...]
CITY VIEWS: HAVE THE CREDIT RATING AGENCIES PERPETUATED THE PANIC OVER SOVEREIGN DEBT? May 6, 2010 YASIR QURESHI | JEFFERIES “The credit rating agencies have to reflect the current situation and if they don’t reflect the liquidity situation for some countries then that will lead to other problems. They haven’t perpetuated the problem.” ADAM HOLBERY | ALLIED WORLD ASSURANCE “They have not increased the panic over sovereign debt because it is [...]
Cowdery may tap investors May 6, 2010 INSURANCE consolidation vehicle Resolution said its shareholders were ready to stump up £3bn to fund another acquisition as it released its first quarter numbers yesterday. Founder Clive Cowdery’s team held a round of meetings with major investors including Aviva and Legal & General in March, at which they reaffirmed their willingness to put up three [...]
Prudential sized up as bid target as investors price in a break-up offer May 6, 2010 PRUDENTIAL’S share price climbed yesterday as the market wrote off its chances of taking over Asian insurer AIA for $35.5bn (£24bn) and began pricing in a break-up bid. Shares in Prudential closed marginally up at 549.5p after flying in morning trading. The optimism was spurred by management’s failure to put out the prospectus for a [...]
Predator becomes prey May 6, 2010 RESOLUTION’S timing is uncanny. Just a day after Prudential’s embarrassing delay to its £14bn cash call, along comes chief executive John Tiner with strong first quarter results announcing loud and clear that he is ready to pounce. Resolution had already held talks with Prudential earlier this year over the potential acquisition of its UK arm, [...]
RSA premiums rise despite Chile losses May 6, 2010 BRITISH based insurer RSA saw premiums rise by five per cent during the first quarter, despite taking a £30m hit from the Chilean earthquake in February and a series of bad weather in Europe at the start of the year. RSA reported a net premium of £1.9bn during the period and said the increase indicated [...]
Swiss Re gears up to repay loan to Warren Buffett May 6, 2010 SWISS Re, the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, boosted its capital by around $3bn (£2bn), giving it confidence it can repay a costly convertible loan from billionaire Warren Buffett and regain a key credit rating. A much improved investment performance also enabled the company to beat profit expectations for the first quarter, despite large natural catastrophe claims [...]
France’s Axa disappoints investors with sales at low end of expectations May 6, 2010 France’s AXA disappointed investors yesterday, unveiling first-quarter revenue growth that failed to match the upswing at a raft of US, Swiss and German rivals. Insurers on both sides of the Atlantic have seen investment income shoot up in the first quarter on the back of buoyant financial markets, and many have also boosted sales of [...]
Brit Insurance moves to protect its margins as rates remain depressed May 6, 2010 BRIT INSURANCE expects premium growth to remain depressed this year after the group reported a double-digit drop in first quarter numbers. The group’s chief executive Dane Douetil said in an interim statement yesterday that he did not expect to see premium volume growth during 2010. His comments come on the back of Brit’s first quarter [...]
BNP has €5bn exposure to Greek plight May 6, 2010 BNP Paribas yesterday revealed a €5bn (£4.2bn) exposure to Greece, the largest among major French banks, as worries over contagion from the debt crisis kept lenders under pressure. The revelation came as BNP posted first-quarter net profit that beat analyst forecasts, thanks to improved market conditions and the integration of Fortis, and said the economic [...]
