Legal & General boosts operating profit to £2.1bn March 4, 2020 Insurance giant Legal & General (L&G) today said it had increased operating profit 12 per cent to £2.1bn, up from £1.9bn the previous year. The company said operating profit from continuing divisions in 2019 was up 17 percent to £3.5bn, compared to £2.1bn the previous year. Earnings per share increased 16 per cent to 28.6, [...]
DEBATE: Should the chancellor rethink plans to get rid of entrepreneurs’ relief in the Budget? March 4, 2020 Should the chancellor rethink plans to get rid of entrepreneurs’ relief in next week’s Budget? Caroline Plumb OBE, chief executive and co-founder of Fluidly, says YES. Critics of entrepreneurs’ relief want proof of its economic impact, but it’s not as simple as throwing a couple of headline figures around and dismissing beneficiaries as the already [...]
Driverless car startup Five raises $41m investment from Direct Line and Airbnb backer March 4, 2020 London tech firm Five has today closed $41m in funding from a slew of new investors, including Trustbridge Partners, Direct Line and Sistema VC. The series B fundraising was supported by existing backers Lakestar, Amadeus Capital Partners, Kindred Capital and Notion Capital — which between them have backed the likes of Airbnb, Klarna, Graphcore and [...]
Direct Line to cut jobs as customers mostly online March 3, 2020 It’s been a difficult start to the year for Direct Line. The company has paid out £1m worth of travel insurance claims as trips get cancelled due to the spread of coronavirus, and £35m in home insurance payouts due to last month’s storms. The Direct Line insurance group, which also owns the Churchill and Green [...]
Direct Line says coronavirus claims could weigh on its travel business March 3, 2020 Direct Line said today that the coronavirus outbreak could hit the 2020 sales of its travel business. The insurer said it had incurred coronavirus-related claims of around £1m, the majority of which were for trips to regions where the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised against all but essential travel. The company also estimated the [...]
Coronavirus jeopardises Airbnb stock market listing March 2, 2020 Airbnb’s much-anticipated float could be in danger following the outbreak of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. Airbnb has been working towards floating on the stock market this year and was looking to start the process in March or April, according to Bloomberg sources. It could now be pushed back as consumers and businesses cancel travel plans [...]
Chancellor Rishi Sunak tells EU: Stick to June timeline for City equivalence decision March 2, 2020 UK chancellor Rishi Sunak has told the European Union to stick to a June deadline to work out which parts of Britain’s financial system will be deemed equivalent after Brexit. British banks, trading platforms and insurers are hoping to be granted access to EU markets under a so-called equivalence system, under which the bloc would [...]
Saga halts Titan Travel sale as coronavirus worries weigh March 2, 2020 Over-50s insurer Saga is said to have halted the sale of one of its travel businesses as the coronavirus outbreak sparks chaos across the tourism industry. Advisers to Saga have postponed the auction of Titan, which operates escorted tours, cruises and rail journeys to various destinations around the world. A number of private equity firms [...]
If Britain is to hit net-zero, we need the City to step up its green finance ambitions March 2, 2020 The unveiling of the COP26 Private Finance Agenda at Guildhall last week was a landmark moment for our climate change efforts as a nation. The annual UN conference, this year taking place in Glasgow, will convene global leaders to discuss the world’s most pressing issue. And as policymakers gear up for the pivotal event, it [...]
Profit at Hiscox blown away by hurricanes and typhoons March 2, 2020 Insurer Hiscox said today its 2019 profit was hit hard by large catastrophes such as Hurricane Dorian and Typhoons Faxai and Hagibis. The Ftse 250 company’s profit before tax fell 60 per cent to $53.1m (£41.3m) for the 2019 calendar year. Earnings per share fell from 31.2p to 13.5p and net asset value per share [...]