Prudential, which is Britain’s second largest insurer, has today confirmed it is to buy AIA, the Asian arm of US company American International Group (AIG), in a deal worth $35.5 billion (£23.3 billion). In a stock market statement today, Pru said the deal provided it with the opportunity to create South East Asia’s leading insurer. [...]
Supermarket giant has today reported that overall sales rose by 8.8% (including petrol) over the last three months. Excluding petrol, sales were up 7.7%. Tesco, which has a 30% share of the UK’s grocery market, said sales are up as a result of its double points Clubcard promotion and heavy discounting. The retail said that [...]
Business group, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), is claiming that small and medium-sized firms are still struggling to access finance. The report comes despite the £200 billion injected into the UK financial system to boost lending. According to the BCC, one third (33%) of companies surveyed said that accessing finance had been more difficult [...]
General Electric (GE) has revealed a poor performance between the July and September period as the US conglomerate’s finance arm was hit hard by the economic downturn. The group, which is seen as barometer of US economic health, reported earnings of $2.5 billion (£1.5 billion) for the quarter, compared with $4.3 billion in the same [...]
Supermarket giant Tesco has announced it is opening a finance centre in Glasgow with the creation of 800 jobs. The move is part of Tesco Personal Finance’s expansion programme, which will see it compete with High Street banks. Tesco, which has a 30% share of the grocery market, already offers credit cards, savings accounts and [...]
Irish pay-TV sports broadcaster Setanta is on the brink of administration after BSkyB refused to provide a £50 million lifeline. BSkyB’s chief executive, Jeremy Darroch, said that they had been “talking to Setanta, and trying to work with them and help them”, however, an agreement was not reached. BSkyB was also reported to say it [...]
Barclays, who has continually resisted calls for taxpayer cash injections, is going to keep hold of 20 percent of its stake in iShares, although a deal will be finalised within the next few weeks as selling off the asset management business in needed. It is being sold off to the private equity firm, CVC Capital [...]
Five trillion dollars that has been allocated to sustainable investing strategies could form the core of an economic recovery, two financial experts have predicted in a book released this week. Cary Krosinsky, vice president of Trucost Plc, and Nick Robins, head of the HSBC Climate Change Centre for Excellence, estimate that sustainable investing funds – [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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