More pubs than ever are picking BT Sport over rival Sky Sports August 17, 2014 More pubs now subscribe to BT Sport than Sky Sports, according to the former state monopoly, as its £2bn investment in building a sports TV empire continues. In May, BT said more than 19,000 pubs, clubs and commercial properties had signed up for its sports service, putting BT neck-and-neck with Sky Sports, BT’s consumer division [...]
City Moves for 15 August 2014 | Who’s switching jobs August 14, 2014 KPMG Yael Selfin has been appointed as a director in the firm’s economics and disputes practice. She joins from Edymar, a boutique consultancy she created and led. She has also been a partner at Volterra, and held the position of head of macro consulting at PwC. Jersey Finance Robert Christensen has been appointed chairman of [...]
Aviva weathers pensions storm as bulk annuity sales rocket up August 8, 2014 Aviva was one of the top risers on the FTSE 100 yesterday, following publication of its half-year results. Its shares rose almost three per cent after reporting that operating profit for the half-year period was up four per cent to £1.05bn. The strong results prove Aviva is weathering the storm created by chancellor George Osborne [...]
Mark Wilson has put Aviva back in the game – Bottom Line August 8, 2014 When I think of Norwich, three things come to mind – Norwich City, Norwich Union and Alan Partridge. You’ll be relieved to hear that I’m going to spare you any terrible puns based on the latter, but I will dare to make an albeit clumsy connection between the first two. Aviva, as it is now [...]
City Moves for 08 August 2014 | Who’s switching jobs August 8, 2014 Marriott Harrison Daniel Jacob has been appointed corporate partner at the law firm. He joins from Pitmans, where he was head of the London corporate group. Jacob specialises in investment, M&A, and restructuring work, with a particular focus on the hotel, leisure and technology sectors. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International The investment banking arm of the [...]
FTSE loses some fizz as Coca-Cola HBC share price sinks 5pc – London Report August 8, 2014 BRITAIN’S top shares yesterday slipped after sobering results from insurance companies and from bottler Coca-Cola HBC. The FTSE 100 ended down 38.79 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 6,597.37 points, its lowest close since 16 April, meaning it had fallen more than three per cent since a peak seen at the end of July. The [...]
Aviva boasts rising profits in first half of the year August 7, 2014 Aviva has reported a four per cent rise in profit before tax reaching over £1bn for the half-year to 7 August. Furthermore, the insurance provider's operating expenses are £129m lower, at £1.4bn. However, while the company acknowledged encouraging macro-economic trends, it said it would not be waiting for markets to spur improvement in results. Aviva [...]
Sir Mike Rake in overdrive to chair roadside recovery firm RAC August 4, 2014 CBI president Sir Mike Rake is the frontrunner to become chairman of the RAC breakdown recovery service. The deputy chairman of Barclays is in talks for the role, ahead of the RAC’s potential £2bn stock market listing, according to Sky News. The breakdown service, owned by private equity group Carlyle, is expected to announce its [...]
London Report: All eyes on Standard Life ahead of next month’s Scot vote August 3, 2014 WITH the Scottish independence referendum about six weeks away, Standard Life’s half-year results tomorrow will make for interesting reading. In February, it was first major Scottish firm to warn it was drawing up contingency plans in the event of a “Yes” vote. Today HSBC Holdings, Fidessa, Telecity, Alent, Morgan Sindall, Ultra Electronics Holdings, esure and [...]
City Moves for 01 August 2014 | Who’s switching jobs July 31, 2014 Deutsche Bank Tiina Lee has been appointed UK chief operating officer at Deutsche Bank. She will become vice-chair of the UK executive committee, and will continue to chair the UK regional governance board. Lee was most recently head of UK regional governance at the bank. Bovill Fiona Richardson has been appointed head of technical at [...]