Lloyd’s profits hit by catastrophe claims March 30, 2011 London’s insurance market Lloyd’s of London has posted a £2.2bn pre-tax profit for 2010 despite a year of heavy catastrophe losses for the industry. Lloyd’s, which operates in 175 countries, wrote £22.6bn of gross premiums last year, up 2.9 per cent from £22bn in 2009, but pre-tax profit fell 43 per cent from the £3.9bn [...]
RONSON BLAMES TOXIC IRISH BANKING ASSETS March 29, 2011 TO the Dorchester for the annual get-together of the great and the good in the property world, hosted by Gerald Ronson, Heron International’s remarkable boss. The 71-year old property sage and philanthropist, who briefly spent time in jail in the 1990s as a result of the Guinness share scandal, before staging a spectacular personal recovery, [...]
Stylish and discreet, but the food isn’t perfect yet March 29, 2011 5 Pollen Street 5 Pollen St, W1S 1ND Tel: 020 7629 1555 FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £45-£50 WITH Jason Atherton’s much-hyped Pollen Street Social to open next month, this miniscule back-alley behind Hanover Square has been getting more attention than one might expect of such a street. And now – pipping [...]
London counts the cost of protest against cuts March 28, 2011 HSBC has slammed the attacks on its branches during Saturday’s protests as “entirely unjustified,” pointing out that it is one of the UK’s top taxpayers. Branches of Santander and HSBC were boarded up yesterday after black-clad, masked youths smashed their way into branches, where they destroyed fittings and scrawled graffiti. Lloyds TSB was also targeted. [...]
BORIS SEEKS THE NEXT BLANKFEIN IN LONDON’S POOREST POSTCODES March 24, 2011 ANY City recruiters out there with a nose for talent will be interested to hear about the latest initiative from Boris Johnson’s Fund for London – a scheme to help disadvantaged young Londoners have a better shot at the UK jobs market. Young London Working provides a central employment hub to connect jobless young people [...]
Goldman reveals key role March 22, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs is believed to have picked London-based vice chairman Michael Sherwood as the next chair of its influential partnership committee. Sherwood, who is co-head of Goldman’s European business, would replace chief operating officer Gary Cohn as head of the panel, in the latest reshuffle at the top of the investment bank. The promotion has [...]
Bargain hunters push markets into recovery mode March 17, 2011 The FTSE rallied to an upbeat close after a six day fall, spending the day “in recovery mode”, analysts said. The FTSE 100 closed up 1.75 per cent at 5,696.11 as investors moved back into oversold stocks, with commodity stocks and chipmakers leading the gains and only six of its constituents closing lower. Stockbroker UBS [...]
Topaz eyes a London listing to raise £311m March 16, 2011 DUBAI-based oilfield services firm Topaz Energy and Marine plans to raise $500m (£311m) in a London listing. The firm, which is part of Oman’s Renaissance Services, is likely to power into the FTSE 250 if the listing is successful, with a market capitalisation of $1.7bn. Topaz has set a price range of 170p per share [...]
CAPITAL RADIO HOSTS PHONE IN THE PROFITS March 16, 2011 CAPITAL Radio presenters Lisa Snowdon and Johnny Vaughan showed they may have missed their real calling when they dropped in to Phoenix Partners Group yesterday to execute a few trades in a “whirlwind” 30-minute visit. The pair’s stint on the trading floor, directly after their breakfast show, was part of the broker’s annual charity day [...]
2012 tickets: Ready, set, go March 14, 2011 THE ticket application process for the London 2012 Olympic Games finally opens today, and they are sure to be hot property so City A.M. has put together an easy guide designed to make the process as easy as possible. 1. it’s NOT FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED While the application process opens today, it lasts for six [...]