ChemChina purchase of Syngenta signed off by US authorities: shares up 12 per cent this morning August 22, 2016 The $43bn (£33bn) Chinese takeover of Syngenta came one step closer after US foreign investment authorities cleared the deal. State-owned chemical company ChemChina is hoping to purchase the Swiss agri-business in what would be the largest foreign acquisition by a Chinese company. Although the news marks the overcoming of a significant hurdle, the deal will next be further scrutinised by anti-trust [...]
Pfizer set to pay $14bn for cancer specialist Medivation August 22, 2016 Pfizer is closing in on a deal to buy cancer drug developer Medivation for nearly $14bn. The $80-a-share offer represents a 20 per cent premium to the San Francesco-based company's share price. Medivation put itself up for sale earlier this year following an offer made by French pharmaceutical-giant Sanofi for $52.50 a share. A second offer was made [...]
BCC says pre-Brexit trade surge has stalled August 19, 2016 Trade surged on the run-up to the Brexit vote only to stall in the last two months the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) said. The amount of trade – as measured by the levels of documentation with individual chambers – rose 9.4 per cent in the second quarter compared to the first three months of [...]
Proof that it is always a struggle to second-guess the insurance market: home and contents premiums are going down August 18, 2016 It feels like only yesterday that we were treated to pictures of politicians wondering around looking rather uncomfortable in wellies and anoraks as they looked concerned at swollen rivers, flooded houses, football pitches and farmland. That prompted the launch of reinsurance scheme Flood Re and also gave George Osborne a good reason to put a further 0.5 per cent [...]
Former pensions minister calls for one simple change that could solve the majority of pension deficits August 18, 2016 Britain's former pension minister has called for a "statutory override" to inflationary increases that are hardwired into three-quarters of the country's defined benefit pension schemes. Baroness Altmann said that the current system had become "unaffordable" for many businesses and the answer was to give flexibility to trustees to adjust the annual uplift paid to members – [...]
Royal London posts positive half-year results with new pension business swelling August 18, 2016 New business and assets under management grew at insurance mutual Royal London despite an "uncertain backdrop" created by the Brexit vote. The figures For the six months to June, total new life and pensions businesses – a figure that represents all the future revenues from new business won discounted back to today's prices – jumped from £3bn to [...]
Ofgem proposes record budget cuts for National Grid August 18, 2016 Ofgem proposed record spending reductions on the budgets of National Grid as part of its mid-year consultation. The energy regulator has proposed a total of £185m of cuts. The amount of money allocated to National Grid as part of their maintenance of electricity and gas networks in Britain must be agreed by Ofgem. In May Ofgem launched an [...]
Steady year for Laura Ashley as online sales flourish August 17, 2016 Retailer Laura Ashley released steady results after a challenging year that has seen its stock lose a third of its value. The figures The current period was 74 weeks to 30 June 2016 compared to a 52 week prior period to 31 January 2015. Revenue stood at £172m, meaning that the run-rate was broadly in line with the £129m in the [...]
Bank of Cyprus announces cancellation of government guarantees as next step on road to recovery August 17, 2016 Cyprus' largest bank took a significant step towards its goal of repaying all its emergency lending by the end of 2017. The Bank of Cyprus – one of the two major commercial banks in the country – cancelled €1bn of government guarantees issued on its behalf as part of a EU funded bail-out. "The Cypriot financial [...]
Solvency ratio concerns weigh on Admiral as its share price dives August 17, 2016 Insurance giant Admiral led today's FTSE 100 laggards as it slid eight per cent after revealing a solvency ratio decline within its half-year results announcement that wasn't to everyone's tastes. The figures Group profits were up to £193m from £186m on turnover that jumped nearly 20 per cent from £1.06bn to £1.26bn. UK operations profit before tax increased slightly from [...]
