Is the turnaround complete? Bank of Cyprus announces London listing and paydown of EU emergency lending November 15, 2016 The Bank of Cyprus made a huge step on its road to redemption today by announcing its intention to list on the London Stock Exchange. The lender said that while it would not be raising any equity directly from the float, it hoped that the move would pave the way for it to access international capital markets. [...]
Not all gravy: Profits melted away in hot weather at Oxo and Bisto owner Premier Foods November 15, 2016 Shares in the owner of Bisto gravy steamed in four per cent higher today as a result of good news on its pension schemes, this was despite the summer's weather hitting profits. Premier Foods revealed half-year earnings had fallen by over four per cent in the six months to the end of September. Meanwhile, underlying revenues fell [...]
Swathes of pensioners are suffering from buyer’s remorse after cashing in pensions November 15, 2016 Tens of thousands of savers are blissfully unaware of the risks of drawing cash lump sums from retirement savings according to research released today. As part of former chancellor George Osborne's push to give Britain's retirees greater pension freedoms, a tax-free lump sum of up to 25 per cent was introduced in 2015. Read more: Enthusiasm for Osborne's [...]
Aviva warns that current saving levels are not sufficient November 15, 2016 Britons need to be saving a whopping six times more than the minimum levels introduced by the government, according to the UK’s largest general insurer. Aviva said that the British public should be setting aside 12.5 per cent of their salary to save for old age. This compares with the current minimum requirement of two per cent under [...]
Deloitte report reveals high levels of mid-cap shareholder satisfaction over exec pay November 14, 2016 Only a "handful" of Britain's mid-cap companies have failed to receive majority shareholder support on exec pay according to a study of FTSE 250 companies. A combination of high profile shareholder revolts against executive pay earlier this year and Prime Minister Theresa May including it as a central pillar of her successful leadership bid, has focussed [...]
Adrian Ringrose to step down as Interserve begins successor search November 14, 2016 Support services giant Interserve is on the hunt for a new boss after announcing that its chief exec will stand down next year. Adrian Ringrose, who joined the board of the group 15 years ago and has manned the tiller as chief exec since 2003, won't be sticking around in any other capacity and plans [...]
The Pensions Regulator rejects claims it was “too heavy-handed” in dishing out fines November 14, 2016 The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has lashed out at claims that nearly all the businesses that challenged auto-enrolment fines had them overturned. A report by payroll platform Paycircle suggested 82 per cent of businesses that pushed back on penalties imposed by TPR had them either "revoked, substituted or varied" during the last quarter. However, TPR condemned the analysis. A spokesperson said: It [...]
Marsh chief exec reveals details of its £295m purchase of Bluefin from Axa November 14, 2016 US insurance broking giant Marsh said that the Brexit vote had no bearing on its £295m purchase of UK small business specialist Bluefin. The deal, announced earlier today, means that Bluefin’s 1,500 staff across 45 offices will move from the Axa umbrella to the subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies. Speaking to City A.M., Marsh chief exec Mark [...]
Metro Bank has agreed to offer cash accounts to clients of St James’s Place November 14, 2016 One of Britain’s up and coming banks today announced a tie-up with the country’s largest wealth manager. Challenger Metro Bank will offer cash accounts to customers of St James’s Place as well as providing a City branch for the wealth manager’s clients. Read more: Metro Bank allows customers to choose Mx prefix instead of Mr or [...]
Interserve contract will deliver “double-digit cost savings” across government departments November 14, 2016 Civil servants promised big savings to taxpayers after agreeing a contract with Interserve to consolidate operations across six government departments. The FTSE 250 group today announced a deal with the departments that will be worth £40m over five years, which "hopes to achieve annual double-digit cost savings". Read more: Interserve wins place on £4bn construction framework John Manzoni, [...]
