Japan’s insured loss may surpass $60bn March 14, 2011 JAPAN’S tsunami damage may cost insurers more than $60bn (£37bn), and lead to premiums rising for the first time in years, analysts said yesterday. Reinsurers such as Swiss Re and Munich Re are likely to consider this a “one-in-200-year” event, which would mean they face losses of up to €2bn (£1.7bn) each. The losses are [...]
Nuclear insurer Chaucer escapes big hit from Japan March 14, 2011 Chaucer, one of the world’s leading nuclear risk insurers, said it did not expect to take a big financial hit from earthquake-related damage to nuclear power plants in Japan. Chaucer said it provided property cover to a nuclear power plant at Onagawa, one of three affected by last week’s earthquake, but its policy excluded damage [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD PUBLIC SECTOR STAFF GET THE SAME PENSIONS AS THE PRIVATE SECTOR? March 10, 2011 ALEX CONSIDINE | XCHANGING “It depends on what you do in the public sector. If you’re a nurse or a policeman and you don’t earn a lot, you should get some recompense for that at the end of your career.” CARL HARVEY | LLOYD’S OF LONDON “I’m not a pensions expert but I think in [...]
Lloyds TSB unveils 5.5 per cent bond for retail investors March 8, 2011 LLOYDS TSB launched a five-year corporate bond for retail investors yesterday, following its first offering to private bond investors last June. The bonds will pay 5.5 per cent interest at a fixed rate until the notes mature in September 2016. Lloyds and Royal Bank of Canada are underwriting the scheme. Lloyds expects to raise at [...]
Business has won already March 8, 2011 That much of the debate over the Olympics has focused on what happens to its venues after 2012 speaks volumes for the efficiency with which the games have so far been organised. Instead of the endless speculation of whether venue X or Y will be ready on time that is normal territory in the months [...]
Oil costs drag the FTSE down with miners and banks sinking March 7, 2011 MINERS dragged Britain’s top share index lower yesterday, as escalating violence in the Middle East and surging oil prices crimped investor appetite for risk. The FTSE 100 index closed down 16.61 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,973.78, nearly 70 points below the session high as the index traded at 80 per cent of its [...]
Insurer Hardy takes a hit after disaster losses March 3, 2011 LLOYD’S insurer Hardy Underwriting yesterday became the latest company to report results hit by catastrophe losses as its profit halved to £10m in 2010. Net tangible assets rose 1.5 per cent to 270p per share, from 266p in 2009, and it raised its dividend ten per cent to 14.6p. Gross written premiums increased to £279.4m [...]
FTSE bounces on commodity rebound as oil price weakens March 3, 2011 A REBOUND by commodity stocks fuelled strong gains by the UK’s top share index yesterday, as oil prices fell back on hopes for a peace deal in Libya, easing concerns over global demand. The FTSE 100 was up 90.20 points or 1.5 per cent at 6,005.09 at the close, ending above the 6,000 level for [...]
Go off to see the Wizard March 3, 2011 THE Wizard of Oz is a surprisingly polarising story. For some, the merest hint of “somewhere over the rainbow” brings tears to their eyes. And Judy Garland as Dorothy – well, enough said. Others, though, find it a deeply sinister plot, shot through with unforgiveable cloying cliché. One critic recently commented that on his first [...]
Amlin in £75m share buyback despite hit from catastrophes March 2, 2011 COMMERCIAL insurer Amlin saw earthquake losses cut its 2010 profit by almost half but cheered the market with a dividend hike and £75m share buyback yesterday. The Lloyd’s (re)insurer took more than £220m in catastrophe losses including £203.6m from earthquakes in New Zealand and Chile last year, pushing pre-tax profit to £259.2m from £509.1m in [...]