England must find another gear March 10, 2011 THE Grand Slam might be there for the taking, but it would be premature in the extreme to compare this current England team to the class of 2003. True, there is a certain amount of symmetry in that a first RBS 6 Nations clean sweep in eight years is likely to boil down to winning [...]
Thiam placates investors but pay row may be next March 9, 2011 TIDJANE Thiam returned like Lazarus from beyond the reputational grave yesterday with the kind of convincingly superb results needed to regain investors’ faith. Thiam, promoted from finance director to chief executive of the Pru in 2009, has felt the wrath of shareholders since his ill-fated $35.5bn (£22bn) bid for AIA. Thiam launched the bid last [...]
Retirees face decades of debt as living costs soar March 8, 2011 A FIFTH of UK retirees still have thousands of pounds of mortgage debt while a third owe money on credit cards, a report showed yesterday. Outstanding mortgage debt among over-55s has also risen by a fifth to more than £65,000 from £54,500 in February 2010, according to Aviva’s latest Real Retirement Report. The survey painted [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 7, 2011 CAPITAL SHOPPING CENTRES Societe Generale rates the landlord “hold” and has raised its 12-month target price by five per cent to 420p. The broker expects the firm’s recent purchase of the Trafford Centre to give a four per cent lift to cash flow and dilute net asset value by around one per cent. It also [...]
Activist investors eye bumper 2011 as market improves March 6, 2011 THIS year has started well for activist investors, those outspoken stake-builders that push boards to buck up their strategy. 2011 has kicked off with a spate of high profile public exchanges between funds and their targets. Activists claimed their first major scalp last month when Sherborne Investors ousted City veteran Nick MacAndrew from the chair [...]
Aviva hints at disposals as profits surge March 3, 2011 INVESTORS welcomed Aviva’s forecast-beating results yesterday as the insurance giant reported a 35 per cent jump in pre-tax profit. Achievements included eliminating its £1.7bn pension deficit in the year, and returning its net asset value to a £12.8bn pre-crisis level. Aviva said its 2011 strategy was “to concentrate on the markets where we have strength [...]
Impressive results that should give the share price a much-needed lift March 3, 2011 AVIVA’s results and strategy update should cheer investors for several reasons. The winter weather that has hindered other insurers’ results didn’t even dent its £2.4bn pre-tax profit. Its strength in life insurance and commitment to cost-cutting are welcome, particularly against a backdrop of new regulation such as the ban on using gender in insurance calculations [...]
Aviva profit jumps by a quarter March 3, 2011 Aviva reported a forecast-beating 26 per cent increase in 2010 profit, helped by cost cuts and stronger sales of high-margin life policies. Aviva, Britain’s second-biggest insurer by market value, said it made a 2010 operating profit of £2.55bn, up from £2.02bn pounds the previous year. Analysts had expected a profit of 2.44bn, according to the [...]
HEADACHE FOR AVIVA INVESTORS OVER THEIR LIBYAN LANDLORD March 2, 2011 INTERESTING times at 14 Cornhill, the commercial property with a prime location opposite the Bank of England. Its owner has become embroiled in a little local difficulty involving global asset freezing. The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), the sovereign wealth fund that administers the troubled country’s oil billions, has owned 14 Cornhill since December 2009, when [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD February 27, 2011 COMPANY NEWS ● HSBC Holdings releases its annual results on Monday. It is expected that the results will show the bank to be back to pre-crash levels, with a dividend forecast of just over 3 per cent. ● Carrefour will report full-year results Thursday. The focus of the market is likely to be on management [...]