Quindell suspended from Aim as FCA begins investigation August 5, 2015 Quindell has requested temporary suspension from Aim, and is being investigated by the FCA, after admitting some of its practices were “at the aggressive end of acceptable”. The Financial Conduct Authority confirmed it had begun an investigation into public statements made regarding Quindell’s financial accounts during 2013 and 2014. The City watchdog would be [...]
FTSE treads water as a mixed bag of results peg market – London Report August 5, 2015 Top UK shares ended yesterday on a flat note, with the market pegged back by a mixed bag of corporate earnings and a $30bn (£19bn) bid from drugmaker Shire to buy rival Baxalta. The FTSE 100 lost 2.05 points, 0.03 per cent, on the day, closing at 6,686.57 points. The index’s skew towards mining and [...]
Insurer Direct Line pushes profit up by 50pc in first half of 2015 August 5, 2015 SHARES in insurance group Direct Line were up yesterday by 2.68 per cent, after the firm, which owns the Churchill brand, posted an increase in profit for the six months to 30 June. Pre-tax profit from ongoing operations jumped to £315m from £212m in the same period of last year. Gross written premium increased slightly [...]
Standard Life share price falls on hit from Osborne’s pension shake-up August 4, 2015 The insurance giant's admission that it will be hit by the government's pension shake-up sent shares down three per cent to 440.7p in mid-morning trade today. The figures In results posted this morning, Standard Life said operating profit before tax rose six per cent to £290m in the six months ended 30 June, from £274m during the same period a year earlier. The [...]
City Moves for 04 August 2015 | Who’s switching jobs August 3, 2015 Legal & General Investment Management Andrzej Pioch has been promoted to co-fund manager in the investment management company’s multi-index team. He joined Legal & General Investment Management in July 2014 as fund manager from Aviva Investors. Argo Group International Holdings The underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products has appointed Steve McGill as global head [...]
Why the NHS needs old-age reserves to mitigate galloping healthcare costs August 3, 2015 Do you remember the time when healthcare professionals used to argue that the NHS was adequately funded, and that further injections of money were not needed? Me neither, because there never was such a time. The NHS has always been “underfunded”, and the solution to its woes has always been just a few billion pounds [...]
EU outlook revised to “negative” from “stable” by Standard & Poor’s August 3, 2015 Standard and Poor’s has revised the EU’s outlook to negative due to the ongoing Greek debt crisis and growing fears that the UK could vote to leave the EU. The decision also reflects that S&P believe the EU’s AA+ credit rating has a greater than 1-in-3 change of being cut in the next 2 years. This [...]
Government sells off more Lloyd shares, taking its stake below 14 per cent August 3, 2015 The government has sold off another one per cent of its shares in bailed-out bank Lloyds, taking the taxpayer's stake below 14 per cent. The latest sale means so far it's raised nearly £14bn for the Treasury's coffers through a trickle of share sales, which were initially announced in December. "It’s fantastic news that we’ve sold [...]
RSA share price soars 12 per cent after Zurich confirms takeover talks August 3, 2015 Shares in London-listed RSA Insurance Group soared per cent this morning as Swiss rival Zurich confirmed it was considering a takeover bid. Zurich is reportedly mulling a bid in excess of £5.5bn for the business as new rules come in governing how much money insurers must set aside to protect against potential market shocks. [...]
RSA hoping for better offer as bidders Zurich, Axa and Aviva circle August 2, 2015 Insurer RSA is hoping to attract a better offer than Zurich’s potential bid, revealed last week, with several other companies believed to be interested in entering the race for the troubled British firm. City analysts expect Zurich to make an offer of around 550p per share. That price would provide investors with a premium [...]