Lloyd’s insurer Hardy sees loss August 25, 2011 SPECIALIST insurer and reinsurer Hardy said yesterday that catastrophe losses had hit its first half figures hard, as it posted a loss after tax of £17.1m, compared to profits of £2m last year. Losses related to the earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and flooding in Australia meant Hardy’s combined operating ratio rose by 17 [...]
Make like Bond with an Aston in the Alps August 21, 2011 AMERICAN novelist Mark Twain wrote that rambling in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland was incomparable to any opiate, legal or otherwise. Imagine the rush, then, to be booming an Aston Martin V8 Vantage S round the picturesque, vertiginous Alpine passes, past crystal-clear glacier lakes and verdant valleys where cow bells jangle for miles. I’ve been let loose [...]
Insurers warn on capital adequacy rules August 17, 2011 TOUGH new capital requirements to be imposed on European insurance companies could restrict them from investing in bank debt, a think tank said yesterday. The Institute of International Finance said new Solvency II rules being brought into force in the next two years could prevent them from buying large tranches of long-dated bank bonds despite [...]
Merkozy’s business-killing tax plans August 17, 2011 TUESDAY’S announcement by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy that they intend to implement a financial transactions tax in the EU was bad news all round. But such a tax would be particularly damaging to those within the forex market. Forex is the largest financial market in the world, with a £2.5 trillion average daily turnover. [...]
Trimming the fat is not enough July 21, 2011 CAPITA yesterday said the conditions for outsourcing were proving “increasingly buoyant”. Such confidence should have had investors piling into the stock, especially as earnings per share were up 12 per cent and contract wins were double the same period last year at £1.1bn. The companies it signed major deals with in the first six months [...]
Capita profit up as contracts roll in July 21, 2011 Outsourcing group Capita reported a seven per cent rise in first-half underlying profit, with the period boosted by major contract wins as demand returns in the public and private sector markets, the group said. Capita, which runs the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, TV licensing for the BBC and the Criminal Records Bureau in the UK, said [...]
Capita profit up as contracts roll in July 21, 2011 Outsourcing group Capita reported a seven per cent rise in first-half underlying profit, with the period boosted by major contract wins as demand returns in the public and private sector markets, the group said. Capita, which runs the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, TV licensing for the BBC and the Criminal Records Bureau in the UK, said [...]
Ferguson not interested in making Sneijder his next summer purchase July 14, 2011 MANCHESTER UNITED manager Sir Alex Ferguson has denied he is interested in making Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder his headline summer signing amid speculation that a £35m deal is close to being agreed. Ferguson has already spent in excess of £50m during the close season following the arrivals of Ashley Young, Phil Jones and David de [...]
UBS and Credit Suisse to axe thousands of jobs July 14, 2011 UBS is set to cut around 5,000 jobs to save 1 billion Swiss francs (£761m) while rival Credit Suisse is planning to axe about 1,000 staff, Swiss newspapers reported. Citing an unnamed UBS insider, the Tages-Anzeiger daily said the precise details of the cost-cutting programme still had to be agreed and approved by the board, [...]
INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE YEAR | The Shortlist day eight June 28, 2011 Insurance companies have endured an exceptionally costly year so far thanks to a bitter winter in Europe and devastating earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan. Insured losses in the first quarter alone are at a record level, testing the discipline of firms’ risk management. As the largest insurance hub in Europe, the City’s insurers play [...]