No more big buys, says Pru June 7, 2010 THE collapse of the $35.5bn (£25bn) AIA takeover means Prudential will focus on smaller bolt-on acquisitions rather than headline-grabbing mega-deals, the firm indicated yesterday. Asked by a small shareholder to comment on some of the lessons learned from the implosion of Prudential’s bid for AIG’s Asian subsidiary, chairman Harvey McGrath said: “In the post-crisis world [...]
No more big buys, says Pru June 7, 2010 THE collapse of the $35.5bn (£25bn) AIA takeover means Prudential will focus on smaller bolt-on acquisitions rather than headline-grabbing mega-deals, the firm indicated yesterday. Asked by a small shareholder to comment on some of the lessons learned from the implosion of Prudential’s bid for AIG’s Asian subsidiary, chairman Harvey McGrath said: “In the post-crisis world [...]
Pru board’s perks revealed in their employment contracts June 7, 2010 PRUDENTIAL chairman Harvey McGrath may have soaked up most of the pressure at yesterday’s annual general meeting, but at least he didn’t have to think about driving home. The former head of Man Group is entitled to a chauffeur-driven car as one of his perks at the helm of Prudential’s board, according to contracts seen [...]
Under-fire insurer reports 27pc rise in new business June 7, 2010 AHEAD of a testing encounter with investors, Prudential pleased analysts by releasing a strong trading update for the five months to May. Group sales accelerated after March to hit £1.4bn by last month, expanding at a rate of 27 per cent. New business was up 33 per cent in Asia over the period to £579m, [...]
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF PRUDENTIAL’S FIVE-MONTH TRADING UPDATE? June 7, 2010 BARRIE CORNES | PANMURE GORDON “Sales in April and May have improved from an already impressive first quarter, driven by record Asian sales. Management trust may take time to restore but the business at least remains on track. Buy.” TOBY LANGLEY | SANFORD C BERNSTEIN “The numbers were certainly encouraging and serve as a reminder [...]
IATA: Airlines will return to profitability June 7, 2010 AIRLINES will return to profitability this year, according to the commercial aviation industry’s leading body. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects airlines to post a collective $2.5bn (£1.7bn) profit for 2010, marking a vast improvement on its previous forecast published in March, which forecast the industry would report $2.8bn in losses. “The global economy [...]
Willie Walsh: I’m determined to solve this strike June 7, 2010 WILLIE WALSH yesterday insisted that he remains “determined” to discuss the strike launched by British Airways (BA) cabin crew as he faced criticism by Unite for leaving the country. The BA chief executive, who was yesterday at a conference in Berlin, dismissed claims by Unite that he was neglecting negotiations by leaving London at a [...]
Two firms hit with FSA fines for client flops June 7, 2010 CITY watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined the retail arm of stockbroker Astaire Securities and an asset management unit of Close Brothers a total £609,000 for failing to protect client money. Under FSA rules, companies have to ringfence client money and keep it in segregated accounts with trust status to protect it in [...]
ENI sees growth in 2011 on output rise June 7, 2010 ITALIAN oil and gas company Eni trimmed its 2010 output view to flat but said it expected stronger growth from next year as new fields come onstream and others ramp up production. “[We confirm] our full year production target [will be] in line with 2009,” Claudio Descalzi, head of exploration and production, told analysts yesterday. [...]
Sberbank to beat market expectations June 7, 2010 SBERBANK, Russia’s top lender, said it may revise its conservative full-year forecast at the end of this quarter after beating market estimates with an all-time high profit in the first quarter. The state-run bank so far has estimated it will have a net profit of 100 billion roubles for the whole of 2010. “There will [...]
