Better late than never for Henri de Castries June 1, 2011 AXA has changed beyond recognition over the last 30 years. A string of global acquisitions have turned it from a small mutual insurer in France’s Normandy to a global player. Despite its big ambitions, the firm still trades at a discount to the rest of the large-cap insurance conglomerates. Its price to book value before [...]
Axa unveils plans to slash debt June 1, 2011 AXA, Europe’s second-largest insurer, said it would boost earnings and cut debt as part of a 2015 plan to bolster investor confidence in its future growth path. The company is under pressure to deliver a convincing strategy after the crisis forced it to shelve its previous growth targets. Its shares have rebounded this year but [...]
Buyout group pays €2.1bn for PAI’s Spie May 31, 2011 A GROUP led by Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has agreed to buy French engineering group Spie in a deal valuing it at €2.1bn (£1.8bn), in the biggest French leveraged buyout (LBO) since the 2008 financial crisis. French private equity group PAI Partners, which said in March it was considering a possible sale of the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 25, 2011 PRUDENTIAL Nomura rates the insurer “reduce” with a target price of 735p. The broker thinks the Pru’s valuation could be called into question by the expected sales slowdown in the States, and believes the market is currently underestimating the firm’s exposure to the US market. Nomura recommends switching to AXA, which is forecast to return [...]
Resolution life sales jump by 52 per cent May 10, 2011 RESOLUTION, the buyer and consolidator of UK life insurance assets, sold £270m of fresh life policies in the first three months of the year, it said yesterday. New sales through its newly-renamed Friends Life business rose 52 per cent or £92m on the same period in 2010, with £66m of the increase attributed to its [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 9, 2011 James Caird Asset Management The hedge fund has appointed Mary Goodman, former special assistant to the president for financial markets at the Nation Economic Council and senior adviser to the US Treasury, as managing director of the firm’s US business, based in Washington DC. Goodman will advise on global macroeconomic outlook and on monetary, fiscal, [...]
AXA Real Estate raises €1.26bn from investors April 25, 2011 AXA Real Estate Investment Managers raised €1.26bn (£1.1bn) in the first quarter of 2011, with €800m raised as segregated accounts to reflect an ongoing demand for diversified mandates. Axa Real Estate, the largest real estate manager in Europe with €39.9bn in assets under management, also raised €460m for two of its pan-European institutional investment vehicles, [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS April 20, 2011 BURGLARS TO CASH IN ON WEDDING While the UK celebrates the royal wedding, AXA, the home insurers, predict a potentially huge surge in burglaries and accidental damage insurance claims. AXA’s research predicts that over four in ten of us will be away from our homes for the royal wedding while a further 21 per cent [...]
CITY VIEWS: HOW WORRIED ARE YOU ABOUT INFLATION? April 12, 2011 GAVIN SUMMERS | XL INSURANCE “I’m quite worried because the cost of living is going up. My pay increase was below inflation so it was essentially a pay decrease.” ANDY PEACOCK | AXA INSURANCE “I’m not worried. I have a mortgage and credit card but it is not that bad if you consider the cost [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 7, 2011 BRITVIC Goldman Sachs has downgraded the soft drinks firm to “sell” and cut its target price by 77p to 384p. The broker thinks the firm’s sales mix will continue to suffer as UK and Irish customers look for better value. It also expects Britvic’s management to admit rising input costs during interim results next month [...]