King: EU could veto Vickers November 3, 2011 MAJOR parts of the government’s flagship bank and regulatory reform policy would be illegal under current drafts of EU law, Bank of England governor Mervyn King admitted yesterday. Confirming City A.M.’s revelation on Monday that the government believes its policy could be “subject to legal challenge” under the current version of EU capital rules, the [...]
Aviva meets targets but sees capital surplus fall November 3, 2011 EUROPE-focused insurer Aviva met forecasts for both its savings and personal insurance businesses yesterday and sought to dispel concerns about its Eurozone debt holdings. Life and pensions sales fell ten per cent to £20.9bn in the first nine months of the year compared to a year ago, as it cut back on capital-intensive products. Sales [...]
Old Mutual and Swiss Re sales and profits rise November 3, 2011 OLD Mutual posted an eight per cent rise in life and pensions sales to £358m in the past quarter, far ahead of expectations yesterday, as it expanded in Scandinavia and emerging markets. Switzerland’s reinsurance giant Swiss Re also surprised investors with far better third-quarter results than expected as its net profit more than doubled to [...]
Probes start into MF Global client funds November 3, 2011 US regulators are launching a broad review into the business practices of failed futures brokerage MF Global as their hunt continues for over $600m (£375m) in missing customer money. Round-the-clock shifts for examiners have become the norm as they sort through the collapse of the firm headed by Jon Corzine. The head of the US [...]
Insurer AIG reports $4.1bn loss after fall in Asian group AIA’s market value November 3, 2011 US INSURANCE giant American International Group fell to a bigger-than-expected net $4.1bn (£2.6bn) third-quarter loss yesterday, after the value of its stake in its former Asian subsidiary dropped and it took charges in its aircraft leasing unit. AIG’s core insurance businesses were profitable on an operating basis, and its mortgage insurance unit both raised prices [...]
Man Group stems client outflow fears and unveils share buyback November 3, 2011 SHARES in Man Group rose as much as five per cent yesterday after the hedge fund manager said outflows had slowed in October, stemming fears that withdrawals were accelerating. But assets under management fell by around $1bn (£625m) during the month to $63.5bn, as its flagship AHL fund continued to perform poorly. Pre-tax profits fell [...]
Broadband sales boost profits at BT November 3, 2011 A WAVE of new broadband customers helped push BT to a 17 per cent jump in first-half profits yesterday, as boss Ian Livingston continued his turnaround of the firm. Its retail division added 166,000 new broadband users in the last three months, almost two thirds of the 263,000 net adds in the UK. BT’s superfast [...]
Ian Livingston: the turnaround king November 3, 2011 THE TURNAROUND of BT Group under Ian Livingston has been nothing short of remarkable. When he became chief executive in 2008, its IT services arm Global Services was a basket case that threatened the very survival of the entire group. In an attempt to steal a share of big contracts from established rivals such as [...]
C&W Communications gets boost from sales of iPhones November 3, 2011 CABLE & WIRELESS Communications has said booming demand for smartphones pushed it to a forecast-beating first half profit of $163m (£102m), a nine per cent year-on-year spike. Its stock closed up 7.5 per cent after soaring as much as 15 per cent, paring back some of the losses it has made since its demerger from [...]
Pearson raises its guidance November 3, 2011 Publishing group Pearson yesterday said it was confident in its outlook despite weakness in its key US textbook market. The owner of the world’s largest education business, Penguin Books and the Financial Times said sales were up six per cent and operating profit up 13 per cent but declined to give a full set of [...]
