Hannover Re hit by pricing pressure fear August 10, 2010 Hannover Re yesterday joined a wave of European insurance players reporting forecast-beating results as rising premiums amid economic recovery offset high damage claims. However, analysts expressed worry about Hannover’s underwriting performance in the second quarter and the prospect of reinsurance prices coming under pressure, contributing to a fall in Hannover’s shares which closed six per [...]
Watchdog will look at NAB’s $12bn Axa buy August 9, 2010 AUSTRALIA’S competition regulator agreed to consult the market on National Australia Bank’s proposals to salvage its $12bn (£7.5bn) takeover of Axa Asia Pacific, giving it a glimmer of hope the deal would succeed. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said yesterday it hoped to rule on the undertakings or some proposed asset sales by [...]
AXA posts first-half loss August 4, 2010 AXA, Europe’s second-biggest insurer by market value, posted a net income fall of 29 per cent to €944m (£782m) yesterday driven by the loss of €1.48bn from the sale of some UK Life operations to insurer Resolution. The French firm also announced a management reshuffle. It said Nicolas Moreau, chief executive of the UK arm [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR PENSIONS? August 3, 2010 KEVIN HUGHES | AXA “Working in insurance I’m pretty well looked after. I’ve heard people talk about concerns but from a personal perspective I’m not that worried about the future of pensions.” JONATHAN WEITZMANN | APPLEBY GLOBAL “Ultimately the future depends on how the government splits up the funds. Raising the retirement age could be [...]
EARNINGS SEASON | CALENDAR August 1, 2010 Monday 2 August Xchanging – UK Thomas Cook – UK Hammerson – UK Tullett Prebon – UK HSBC – UK Intertek – UK Mouchel – UK Qinetiq – UK Berkshire Hathaway – US Warner Music Group – US Linde – Germany BNP Paribas – France Air Liquide – France Tuesday 3 August ITV – UK [...]
Brit in talks after £850m Apollo offer July 28, 2010 BRIT INSURANCE is sounding out its largest investors after opening its books to US private equity house Apollo on the basis of a £850m indicative offer yesterday. Brit agreed to due diligence after Apollo raised its approach for the third time to £10.75 per share, just shy of the magic £11 per share touted by [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 28, 2010 Collins Stewart The financial advisory group has appointed a new equity research, sales and corporate broking team, focused on the mining sector and headed by John McGloin (pictured). McGloin has worked as an analyst for the past eight years at Beeson Gregory and Evolution. He is joined by mining analysts Tim Dudley and Andrei Kroupnik; [...]
Former Pru boss tucker joins AIA July 18, 2010 AIA WILL today announce the shock appointment of the former head of FTSE-100-listed Prudential as its new chief executive. Mark Tucker will take the reigns at the firm just weeks after Prudential’s $35.5bn (£23bn) AIA takeover bid humiliatingly collapsed. He will now be responsible for overseeing the firm’s momentous listing, resurrected last week, which could [...]
Halliwells signs Barlows deal but could face administration July 18, 2010 FALLEN Manchester law firm Halliwells will learn tomorrow whether it will be forced into administration as it remained in deadlock discussions over the weekend with a number of rivals to sell off parts of its business. The firm has already struck a deal with City insurance practice Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, which has agreed to [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 15, 2010 DFS The sofa retailer, which was recently sold by founder Lord Kirkham to private equity group Advent International for £500m, has ended its search for a new chief executive. Ian Filby has thirty years of retail experience, including a recent stint working as interim chief executive at Nectar. He was also previously retail brand development [...]