PM backs the City’s start-up business plans March 28, 2011 DAVID Cameron will today back a campaign launched by over 60 City firms to encourage people to become entrepreneurs. Firms including HSBC, Deloitte, Google, KMPG, BlackBerry, AXA, Coutts, Intel and Lloyds TSB are offering a package of £1,500 to every start-up that participates. Cameron will pledge his full support for the scheme and ask the [...]
Dividend hike as Resolution looks at deals March 24, 2011 BRITISH insurance consolidator Resolution hiked its dividend more than expected, as it focuses more on squeezing cash from its businesses, and said it was still mulling deals outside the UK. Resolution, created to buy underperforming British life insurers and merge them into a more profitable whole, yesterday raised its final payout for 2010 by 15 [...]
Savers should utilise ISAs to beat inflation March 16, 2011 5 APRIL will be the last day this tax year to shelter your savings under an ISA. With stagnant wages and inflation biting into savings, holding savings in cash is not a good idea. Mervyn King will likely be sending letters to George Osborne apologising for high inflation for a while to come. The 2 [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE EFFECT OF GREECE’S PUBLIC FINANCES ON THE UK? March 7, 2011 TIM EDWARDS | WILLIS RE “Yes, it affects our economic situation too. It’s right that we support them, but the case to say it’s unfair to subsidise them is clear too. They clearly have to tighten up regulatory requirements.” BARRY HENLEY | RSA “I would be concerned if we were funding their problems and not [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 7, 2011 Nomura Holdings The Asian investment bank has made a number of changes to its management team. David Benson, Nomura’s former chief risk officer, will become vice chairman of Nomura Holdings. Wholesale president and COO Jesse Bhattal (pictured) will become deputy president of Nomura Holdings and CEO of the Wholesale division, and Yasuo Kashiwagi, currently senior [...]
Nestle joins the hunt for Yoplait as suitors line up with offers March 1, 2011 NESTLE and General Mills are among leading candidates to buy a 50 per cent stake in French yoghurt maker Yoplait. General Mills and Nestle have submitted offers for the Yoplait stake being sold by private equity firm PAI Partners, valuing the yoghurt maker at about €1.6bn (£1.35bn) according to Bloomberg. China’s Bright Dairy & Food [...]
Resolution rejects more buyouts as focuses on efficiency savings February 23, 2011 CLIVE Cowdery’s insurance buyout firm Resolution will step back from further UK purchases while it integrates its three previous acquisitions. Resolution said in a strategy update yesterday that consolidating Friends Provident, AXA’s UK life business and Bupa Health Assurance should generate £112m cost synergies per year by 2013, up from £75m. The firm said it [...]
Six things to check before setting up the family’s financial safety net February 23, 2011 PERSONAL insurance premiums are set to rise this year, as the market vies to boost profitability. That was the prediction last week from Axa, after it unveiled a drop in 2010 underlying earnings to £131m from £235m in 2009. So what better time to make sure you’re covered? While hunting down a competitive deal is [...]
Resolution halts takeover activity February 23, 2011 Insurance takeover vehicle Resolution has called a halt to its acquisition programme, saying it could meet key financial targets without making further deals for now. “Resolution is confident that it will achieve its targeted mid-teen returns on the UK Life Project without further acquisitions,” the company said in a statement. “It will not contemplate acquisitions [...]
Profits at BNP hit by one-off writedown February 17, 2011 BNP PARIBAS fourth-quarter profits missed analysts’ expectations yesterday despite a rise in revenue, after it had to write down the value of its stake in insurance firm Axa. The €534m (£348m) Axa charge was put down to stock market volatility, which saw Axa shares drop well below their book value. BNP holds a 5.2 per [...]