WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 30, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES ARCELORMITTAL FINED €276M FOR PRICE-FIXING ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel producer, has been fined €267.5m ($339m) for the part that its companies played in one of the most wide-ranging and long-running cartels to come to light in Europe. In all, 17 steel manufacturers were involved, and were given fines totalling €518.5m yesterday, with [...]
Resolution rises on deal plans but bosses half-miss cash call June 30, 2010 RESOLUTION shares made their steepest one-day gain in eight months yesterday as the insurance consolidation vehicle released details of its rights issue and £2.8bn takeover of AXA UK. Resolution’s paper, which has slumped since November, rose five per cent to 63p in the first trading since it was suspended a fortnight ago. Analysts and investors’ [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 30, 2010 LLOYDS BANKING GROUP Credit Suisse has given Lloyds Banking Group an “outperform” rating. It upgraded forecasts for the bank last month after flagging that sustained low interest rates would allow for a £4bn increase in mortgage revenues over the next three years. Base rate expectations have since fallen to record lows, notes Credit Suisse. RESOLUTION [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 27, 2010 MARKS & SPENCER UBS maintains a “buy” recommendation for Marks & Spencer and said that it forecasts first quarter like-for-like growth of three per cent in general merchandise and 1.5 per cent in food. UBS said the consensus may be a little higher and that there may be an Easter impact as last year’s first [...]
Cowdery buys Axa’s UK arm in £2.8bn deal June 24, 2010 RESOLUTION will reshuffle the leadership of its insurance consolidation project after agreeing to pay £2.8bn for the British life and pensions businesses of French group Axa yesterday. Axa’s UK arm will be merged with Resolution’s existing holding, Friends Provident, to create Friends Life. Trevor Matthews will stay as chief executive but David Hynam, Graham Harvey [...]
Resolution agrees £2.75bn deal for Axa unit June 24, 2010 AXA has agreed to sell part of its UK life-insurance unit to Resolution for £2.75bn. Resolution, run by Clive Cowdery, aims to merge the AXA divisions with Friends Provident, the life insurance business bought last year for £1.86bn. The investment vehicle said its leading shareholders had agreed to sub-underwrite 52 percent of the cash call, [...]
Resolution eyes £800m in Axa June 20, 2010 Clive Cowdery’s insurance consolidation vehicle, Resolution, is hoping to free up around £800m from the inherited estate of Axa’s UK business if its £2.8bn takeover goes ahead. Axa had previously sought permission from the Financial Services Authority to expatriate excess funds from the group’s with-profits life assurance portfolios over the next two years, and Resolution [...]
Cowdery takes £2bn AXA rights issue pitch to major shareholders June 15, 2010 RESOLUTION was in talks with its largest shareholders yesterday over the planned £2bn rights issue it will use to part-fund a swoop on AXA’s UK life and pensions business. Insurance entrepreneur Clive Cowdery’s team, led by former Lazard banker Jon Hack, is understood to be discussing a novel underwriting structure with investors including Aviva, Legal [...]
The euro has been left treading air June 15, 2010 WITH Moody’s downgrade putting Greek government debt on a par with that of Romania and Latvia, analysts are starting to ask if this is end for the Eurozone. At a press briefing this week Theodora Zemek of AXA Investment Managers even commented that the next two years could see the wholesale break-up of the euro. [...]
Cowdery eyes AXA synergies June 14, 2010 RESOLUTION will need to extract annual cost savings of more than £500m from AXA UK to make its takeover of the French behemoth’s British life and pensions business worthwhile, the investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted yesterday. Shares in Resolution, entrepreneur Clive Cowdery’s insurance consolidation project, were suspended after it confirmed its intention to pay £2.75bn [...]