Aviva reports record group protection sales as it sells off Italian business March 4, 2021 Insurance giant Aviva has reported operating profit remained stable even in the face of the pandemic amid a sale of its Italian and French division. The insurer reported operating profit of £3.16bn while its core business cash remittances rose marginally to £1.4bn. The FTSE 100 company said it had delivered record sales in group protection [...]
Campaigners slam Aviva’s ‘ambiguous’ net zero commitment March 1, 2021 Climate campaigners have questioned Aviva’s net zero commitment claiming the insurance giant will continue to invest in fossil fuels. This morning Aviva announced it planned to shrink its carbon footprint to net zero by 2040. The firm said it had written to the biggest carbon emitters in its portfolio urging them to sign up to [...]
Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group burns through £5.5m a month during lockdown March 1, 2021 Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group has said it expects to burn through £5.5m a month until lockdown restrictions are lifted. The group announced details of the cash burn rate at Christmas but today said it expected to stay at this level until the end of restrictions, which are due to be lifted no earlier than [...]
BT chair Jan du Plessis steps down to ‘focus on other interests’ March 1, 2021 BT chair Jan du Plessis will step down from the board less than four years after joining the telecoms firm. The former Rio Tinto chair joined BT as a non-executive director in June 2017 and was appointed chair that November. Prior to his role at the telecoms giant, du Plessis was chairman of SABMiller when [...]
The Week Ahead: March kicks off with the Budget, Aviva, Zoom and Vroom March 1, 2021 March has arrived and City A.M. looks at what the first week of this month has in store. First of all, of course, there is the Budget this Wednesday. It’s the most important week of the year for Chancellor Rishi Sunak as he outlines the outlook for the UK economy over the next few months. He [...]
Insurer RSA posts profit growth ahead of £7.2bn takeover deal February 26, 2021 Insurance group RSA posted a double-digit rise in profit for 2020 ahead of its £7.2bn takeover by a consortium of Canadian and Danish buyers. RSA, which owns brands including More Than, reported operating profit of £751m, up 15 per cent year on year. Group underwriting profit also jumped 36 per cent to a record high [...]
City Moves February 24th: Who is switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? February 24, 2021 Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. This week we see appointments to the British Property Federation ahead of a pinnacle year for the high street. Deloitte has welcomed a fresh lead to the firm’s creative branch which launched in [...]
FTSE insurer Aviva confirms sale of French unit for €3.2bn to Aema Groupe February 23, 2021 Aviva confirms sale of French unit for €3.2bn to Aema Groupe
Unemployment hikes to 5.1 per cent in biggest leap in a decade February 23, 2021 The UK unemployment rate marked its highest increase in 2020 in more than a decade, according to the latest official statistics, as the labour market continues to feel the weight of months of closures during the pandemic. The annual increase in the unemployment rate last year was the largest jump since the wake of the [...]
City Moves 17 February: Who is switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? February 17, 2021 Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. This week we see movements across the financial sector, with the City of London Group, BNP Paribas and Gateley Capitus all welcoming fresh additions. BNP Paribas AM gets new deputy CEO BNP Paribas Asset Management appointed a [...]