Wages increase hoped to lure England stars home September 17, 2014 PREMIERSHIP rugby chiefs hope a rise in team’s salary caps by £500,000 per season can end the exodus of English players to foreign climes. Potential England stars such as Steffon Armitage and Toby Flood are currently plying their trade in France and are consequently not eligible to play for the national team under its own [...]
Aviva pledges £500m towards infrastructure projects in the UK December 19, 2013 AVIVA has committed £500m to invest in UK infrastructure projects in sectors including transport, hospitals and utilities. The insurance group said yesterday that its commitment follows a deal on new European capital requirements for insurers – known as Solvency II – which had proved less burdensome than initially feared, freeing up more money to invest. [...]
Oil giant BG Group backs down over new chief Helge Lund’s pay pack December 1, 2014 Pressure from shareholders has forced oil firm BG Group to revise its remuneration package for incoming chief executive Helge Lund and reduce his share award from £10m to £4.7m. The company stated that a “significant number” of shareholders had questioned the structure of the original proposed pay package, in particular asking whether it was [...]
City Moves for 26 September 2014 | Who’s switching jobs September 25, 2014 PwC The professional services firm has appointed Simon Hampton to lead its real estate deals practice. He joins from Jefferies, where he was head of real estate, gaming and lodging. Hampton has also held senior positions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Alliance Trust Peter Michaelis has been appointed head of equities at the savings [...]
Best of the Brokers for 25 June 2014 June 24, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com AVIVA UBS has downgraded Aviva to “neutral” from “buy”, also cutting the target price to 524p from 570p. The broker believes that Aviva is no longer the compelling restructuring that a premium valuation deserves, with structurally lower reserve growth in its life insurance [...]
AA executive chairman Bob Mackenzie: From fly rods to flywheels September 23, 2014 When father-of-five Bob Mackenzie isn’t using his spare time to watch his children’s various sporting fixtures, he likes to relax with a fly-fishing rod. “We had a quiet period in August last year when we were looking at buying the business so I spent a month fishing,” he says. “I fish on the River Test [...]
Electra share price drops as shareholders fend off activist investor Edward Bramson and Sherborne Investors October 6, 2014 Electra shareholders have fended off a bid by activist investor Edward Bramson to join the private equity fund’s board at its annual general meeting today. The move sent shares in Electra down almost two per cent this morning. Bramson’s Sherborne Investors had sought backing for reform of the group, with the elusive investor telling shareholders [...]
More pubs than ever are picking BT Sport over rival Sky Sports August 17, 2014 More pubs now subscribe to BT Sport than Sky Sports, according to the former state monopoly, as its £2bn investment in building a sports TV empire continues. In May, BT said more than 19,000 pubs, clubs and commercial properties had signed up for its sports service, putting BT neck-and-neck with Sky Sports, BT’s consumer division [...]
London Report: All eyes on Standard Life ahead of next month’s Scot vote August 3, 2014 WITH the Scottish independence referendum about six weeks away, Standard Life’s half-year results tomorrow will make for interesting reading. In February, it was first major Scottish firm to warn it was drawing up contingency plans in the event of a “Yes” vote. Today HSBC Holdings, Fidessa, Telecity, Alent, Morgan Sindall, Ultra Electronics Holdings, esure and [...]
Aviva-derci to Italian life insurance group November 18, 2013 AVIVA has sold off its stake in Italian life insurance group Eurovita as part of an overhaul of the business. The firm will net €33m (£27.7m) by selling its 39 per cent holding in Eurovita to JC Flowers. Its partner Banco Popolare, which owns the rest, is also selling out to the private equity firm. [...]