Business charm offensive: Reeves discusses investment plans at meeting with Lloyds, Aviva, L&G and British Land March 14, 2023 Labour’s business charm offensive is continuing as shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to discuss plans to boost investment. Keir Starmer’s Labour has positioned itself as the ‘party of business’ as it aims to exploit the Conservatives’ reputational hit following the economic chaos of Liz Truss’s calamitous mini-budget. Reeves will discuss plans to boost business [...]
Six Nations: What Ireland and France need to win the Championship title March 13, 2023 Only Ireland and France are in with a shout of winning the 2023 Six Nations this weekend. It was so nearly a three-horse race going into round five but results last weekend ensured that Scotland would not be in the mix for a title. We’ve broken down who needs what to win the title. Ireland [...]
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 [...]