Lancashire Holdings warns of premium pressure in January November 8, 2012 LLOYD’S of London insurer Lancashire Holdings said yesterday that premium rates will be squeezed in January – and expressed “surprise” at the optimism exhibited by some of its rivals. Nonetheless a quiet third quarter, largely unaffected by major catastrophes, enabled the firm to announce a special dividend of around 56p a share – with a total [...]
FTSE 100 edges up as investors bide time before US election November 6, 2012 The leading share index was up this morning on a wave of corporate earnings releases, although trading was expected to be subdued as investors bided time before the closely-fought US election today. G4S and Marks & Spencer were risers on the FTSE 100 this morning, as they released positive trading updates. On the FTSE All-Share, [...]
Hurricane Sandy set to push up insurance premiums next year November 1, 2012 HURRICANE Sandy, which lashed the Caribbean and east coast of the US earlier this week, will help push up insurance rates in the affected regions, according to one leading analyst. Paul Bauer at ratings agency Moody’s said yesterday that “the event will likely help support price increases going into 2013”. However he insisted that the US property and [...]
Who’s switching jobs November 1, 2012 Baird Jim Conniff has been appointed managing director in the investment bank’s industrial team. He joins from Goldman Sachs, where he was a senior member of its industrial banking team. Conniff was previously a director at Baird. Baker Tilly David Whitlock has been appointed business development director at the accountancy and advisory firm. He was [...]
Andy Haste to join Lloyd’s as deputy chair October 31, 2012 AFTER a short break from the world of insurance, RSA’s former chief executive Andy Haste is planning a return to the sector as deputy chairman of Lloyd’s of London. Haste will begin a three-year term at the UK’s insurance and reinsurance market today, stepping in to succeed Dr Andreas Prindl, who is retiring. He bowed [...]
Livingstone leisure tycoons pocket a dividend of £124m October 31, 2012 IAN and Richard Livingstone, the brothers behind David Lloyd Leisure and a string of top hotels, have paid themselves a £124m dividend despite seeing their net assets fall by a third at their property group. Loopsign, the tycoons’ holding company, paid out the dividend in the year to September 2011, according to accounts filed at [...]
Hurricane Sandy leaves insurers with $10bn bill October 30, 2012 INSURERS yesterday began counting the cost of this week’s US superstorm, amid predictions that it will be even costlier than last year’s Hurricane Irene. Disaster exposure specialist RMS said the insurance bill will be larger than the $4.5bn (£2.8bn) that the industry paid out after Irene. This follows early estimates from rival firm Eqecat that [...]
UK stocks dip as Hurricane Sandy hits insurers and energy shares October 29, 2012 BRITAIN’S leading shares dipped in low volume yesterday as concerns over the costs of Hurricane Sandy in the United States added to uncertainties about future corporate earnings. Many investors were sticking to the sidelines ahead of a pick-up in the UK third-quarter earnings season this week, notably from the energy and banking sectors. Insurers were [...]
How income tax has become such a nightmare for so many October 29, 2012 WHENEVER you hear a politician promising that a painful measure will be purely temporary, run for the woods, tin hat in hand. The most painful of all policies, the income tax, was first introduced in Britain as an emergency measure to pay for the Napoleonic wars. From the beginning, as Kwasi Kwarteng and Priti Patel, [...]
What the other papers say this morning October 29, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Lloyds to axe sales incentives Lloyds Banking Group has launched a scheme that scraps all incentives linked to product sales in the latest attempt to clean up bad practices that have been blamed for causing misselling scandals. Chinese banks flee London’s rules China’s largest state-owned banks are moving big chunks of their European [...]