Expansion drive sends sales at insurer Legal & General soaring November 5, 2013 INSURANCE group Legal & General saw higher than expected quarterly sales as it continued to build a set of bolt on acquisitions into its structure. In a trading statement yesterday, L&G said total worldwide new business on an APE basis was £1.838bn, compared with £1.817bn forecast by analysts polled by the company. Net inflows to [...]
Royal London pension surge November 5, 2013 INSURER Royal London Group yesterday reported strong demand for its pension products amid a big rise in the amount of money it manages. The company said new pensions business was up 28 per cent for the nine months ending September, coming in at £2.2bn. The group’s acquisition of Co-operative Asset Management in August also helped [...]
JLT buys Dutch insurance firm November 5, 2013 CITY insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) yesterday snapped up Dutch outfit Independent Risk Solutions (IRS), expanding its continental presence. JLT has bought the firm, which specialises in shipping insurance, from Brokerage World Solutions for an undisclosed sum. It will be rebranded and merged into JLT Specialty, it said. JLT Nordic boss Henrik Ryden said [...]
Imperial’s chair to step down as earnings grow November 5, 2013 IMPERIAL Tobacco yesterday announced its chairman Iain Napier will step down early next year as it reported strong earnings growth during the year. Napier said he is “confident that I am leaving a board that is well equipped to provide the necessary leadership and direction”. Napier will be stepping down at Imperial Tobacco’s annual general [...]
Intercontinental boosted by Asia and Middle East in third quarter November 5, 2013 INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group posted a 3.3 per cent rise in third-quarter revenues yesterday boosted by a strong performance in Asia, Middle East and Africa. The hotelier, which owns the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and InterContinenal brands, had already warned that its key Americas business suffered a slowdown in trading in September, blaming the earlier timing [...]
Travelodge to build six hotels November 5, 2013 BUDGET hotel group Travelodge said yesterday it is to spend £41.5m on building six new hotels across the UK, creating 500 jobs. The company, which came out of a painful restructuring earlier this year, said it has started work on the new hotels including two sites in Greenwich and Raynes Park. These six properties, which [...]
Intu looks for new partner November 5, 2013 SHOPPING centre owner Intu may seek partners to help it fund its £1bn pipeline of projects, and the firm said it was seeing strong demand from retailers as the economy recovers. The group said occupancy in the quarter to 5 November remained at 95 per cent by rent, and that it had signed 57 long-term [...]
Eurozone to see meagre growth in year ahead November 5, 2013 THE EUROZONE economies will grow at a slower speed than previously expected in 2014, according to a forecast yesterday by the European Commission. The euro area is now expected to grow by only 1.1 per cent in 2014, compared to the 1.2 per cent projected in the spring, despite the region’s emergence from a long [...]
British wellbeing took smaller hit from world’s financial crisis November 5, 2013 THE EFFECTS of the financial crisis are still having an impact on peoples’ wellbeing around the world, according to a major study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD’s report, released yesterday, shows that life satisfaction has fallen in many developed countries, but the UK’s result shows a slight improvement between [...]
Water firms vow to keep bill rises below inflation November 5, 2013 WATER companies yesterday confirmed that they would not be raising prices above the inflation rate next year, after environment secretary Owen Paterson called for the industry to reconsider price hikes. In a letter to all of the major water firms, Paterson said the government is “encouraging water companies to look closely at any price increases, [...]
