‘Bond market tantrum risks’: Gilt traders brace for Labour leftward pivot as Starmer future uncertain
FTSE 100 close: Silicon Valley Bank collapse drags London index into red despite HSBC sale March 13, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was dragged down into a global market sell off today driven by fears over how far the effects of the collapse of tech-focused Silicon Valley Bank could ricochet through the financial system. The capital’s premier index slid more than two per cent to close at 7,548.64 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE [...]
Direct Line shares crash as winter cold snap and inflation leave its results ‘as ugly as they can be’ March 13, 2023 Direct Line today posted a £45m loss for the year 2022 as the insurer suffered a hit from soaring inflation, extreme weather, and market volatility, in what analysts described as one of the “worst years” in the Bromley firm’s history. Shares in Direct Line fell by 5.79 per cent on the news, as the insurer [...]
Amanda Blanc on Desert Island Discs: Aviva chief speaks out against misogyny March 12, 2023 Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc has spoken out on the iconic BBC show Desert Island Discs about the misogyny she experienced as chair of the Welsh Rugby Union and at her FTSE 100 firm’s AGM last year. At the shareholder meeting ast year Blanc said that she was the target of a number of sexist [...]
What do Aviva’s results mean for the insurer’s share price? March 9, 2023 British insurance giant Aviva today set out plans to buy back £300m worth of its own shares from investors, after posting what analysts and the firm itself described as “strong” results for 2022. Aviva’s announcement saw its share price jump by almost four per cent in trading this morning, before settling at a rate almost [...]
So you want to go to… Six Nations Super Saturday? Here’s how March 9, 2023 This time next week millions of Brits will be preparing to tune in to Super Saturday, the final round of Six Nations action involving three games back-to-back. This year’s finale sees Scotland host Italy before Wales travel to France, with Ireland’s match against England on St Patrick’s weekend closing the show. Here’s how to be [...]
FTSE 100 live: London takes fright as Powell testimony scares off blue chip investors March 9, 2023 London’s main index took another step back on Thursday as a second day of testimony in front of Washington lawmakers by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell largely stuck to the hawkish tone of the previous day. The FTSE 100 was last at 7,868.64, down 61.28 points or 0.77 per cent while the FTSE 250 which includes [...]
Aviva launches £300m share buyback scheme after posting 35 per cent surge in profits March 9, 2023 Aviva today vowed to buy back another £300m worth of its owns shares from investors after the insurer outstripped analysts expectations by posting a 35 per cent uptick in its operating profits in 2022. The UK insurance giant today said its operating profits had surged by 35 per cent, to £2.2bn, in what company chief [...]
Engagement with fossil fuel companies better than divestment, say green finance chiefs March 8, 2023 Green finance chiefs agreed engagement with polluting companies was better than divesting as they faced MPs’ questions today on how the City of London was supporting the transition to net zero. Speaking to the Environmental Audit Committee, head of climate change at HSBC Tim Lord said “our strategy is absolutely around engagement”. “The objective here [...]
Sniffy frustrations at Solvency II reforms betray Bank’s out-of-touch approach March 6, 2023 Regulation is a risky business – pun intended. Reducing the possibility of something going completely Pete Tong is at the heart of the work of all of the City’s rulemakers, but it should not be the be-all and end-all. It is this trap into which the Bank of England and its Prudential Regulation Authority appear [...]
Exclusive: Tech chiefs look to win over pension funds on UK ‘sovereign wealth fund’ plans March 6, 2023 Tech and fintech industry chiefs have met with some of the City’s top pension funds as part of plans to create a UK “sovereign wealth fund” that could help unleash a wave of funding into the UK’s tech startups, City A.M. can reveal.