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 [...]
Eurozone fears pull down FTSE to one-year low – London Report October 9, 2014 THE FTSE 100 yesterday hit its lowest level for a year after early gains fell away in a broad-based sell-off as investors became anxious about signs of serious weakening in the Eurozone economy. The blue-chip index, which hit 6,544 points in morning trading, due mainly to a rise in mining shares, ended the day down [...]
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. [...]
Sir Mike Rake in overdrive to chair roadside recovery firm RAC August 4, 2014 CBI president Sir Mike Rake is the frontrunner to become chairman of the RAC breakdown recovery service. The deputy chairman of Barclays is in talks for the role, ahead of the RAC’s potential £2bn stock market listing, according to Sky News. The breakdown service, owned by private equity group Carlyle, is expected to announce its [...]
Aviva to sell Italian insurer stake to JC Flowers November 18, 2013 Aviva has announced this morning that its reached a conditional agreement to sell all of its 39 per cent stake in Italian insurer Eurovita Assicurazioni to private equity firm JC Flowers, for €33m. (Release) Proceeds, said the insurance group, will be used for general corporate purposes. Two weeks ago, Aviva said that there "remains much work [...]
Aviva recovery begins as new business jumps November 7, 2013 INSURANCE group Aviva said there “remains much work to be done” on its recovery plan as it posted a 14 per cent rise in new business to £571m for the first nine months of the year. The firm, which installed Mark Wilson as chief executive and set out a new strategy at the start of [...]
Standard Life share price rockets on £2.2bn deal with Manulife September 4, 2014 Standard Life received a bullish response yesterday from markets and analysts to the sale of its Canadian business for C$4bn (£2.2bn), as shares sky-rocketed and analysts upgraded forecasts after the mega deal. Shares in the huge FTSE 100 listed insurance and investment firm surged by nearly 11 per cent in early trading, before finishing [...]
Analyst Views: Is Aviva’s turnaround plan on track? November 7, 2013 RICHARD HUNTER | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN“The company is in recovery mode and, at Aviva’s own admission, there remains a long way to go. However, many of its key metrics are notably improving, such as the value of new business, capital surplus and reduction of operating expenses. Its largest markets of the UK and France are growing [...]
Top RAC staff in line for £300m listing windfall August 17, 2014 SENIOR executives at RAC are set to share a windfall of up to £300m if the breakdown recovery service decides to push ahead with its expected float next month. Plans to list on the London Stock Exchange would put the group’s top managers in line to benefit from their combined 15 per cent stake in [...]
Exiles promoted with Bristol win June 4, 2014 RUGBY UNION: London Welsh sealed their immediate return to the Aviva Premiership last night with a 21-20 win against Bristol in their Championship final second-leg, completing a 48-28 aggregate win.