RSS feedLegal & General
’Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Sage sells US healthcare business to Vista Equity Partners — statement.
- Legal & General says CEO to leave at end of 2012 — statement.
- EasyJet lifts profit guidance — statement.
Legal & General gets the bid speculation treatment
Aviva and RSA have set tongues wagging, obviously. Legal & General had pushed up just under 3 per cent in London at pixel time, on trader talk of interest from Zurich:
Legal & General has said to Reuters it won’t comment on speculation…
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- Lloyds posts £1.6bn profit in first half, impairments at £6.55bn – statement.
- RBS sells UK branches to Santander for £1.65bn — statement and statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- Prudential delays AIA rights issue as talks with FSA over solvency continue – statement.
- Xstrata Q1 copper output up 3 per cent to 222,971 tonnes – statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Babcock reaches agreement on terms of acquisition of VT Group – statement.
- Legal & General posts final results; final dividend up 33 per cent – statement.
Insurers and the liquidity task force
The dead kitten is becoming a cat.
Here’s a snapshot of the price action in Prudential on Wednesday afternoon:
Although it is not the only insurer moving higher:
Those gains are in part
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- BNP Paribas reports net income of $5.83bn, as defaults drop- statement.
- ING posts underlying 2009 net profit of €748m – statement.
- Legal & General reports over £650m UK net cash generated in Q4 – statement.
The slow march of the Moody’s hybrid downgrades
Watch out for those Moody’s hybrid debt downgrades!
They are coming:
Sydney, November 17, 2009 — Moody’s Investors Service has published its revised methodology on the way it rates the hybrid securities and subordinated debt instruments issued by banks.
UK group targets underwriting costs
An influential group of UK investors is working on plans to cut out the investment banks that advise companies on raising fresh funds by issuing new shares. The investors involved in the embryonic scheme include M&G,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- German July retail sales rose for the first time in three months – Bloomberg.
- Ebay to sell Skype to private investors – NY Times.
- China’s CDB launches $5.1 bln investment arm (report) – Reuters.
The Legal & General defaults begin
Compare and contrast the following statements:
Shareholders have exposure to 10% of total assets under management, or £28bn. The portfolio is of high quality. In the first period of 2009 there have been no defaults on our bond portfolio.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Legal & General interim IFRS operating profit falls 92 per cent to £31m — statement.
- Northern Rock half-year underlying loss reduced to £269.9m — statement.
L&G and the trouble with CDOs – revisted
When FT Alphaville’s Sam Jones recently attempted to get some more information from Legal & General on its £1bn CDO holdings, the insurer either wouldn’t or couldn’t answer his questions, which you can find here.
L&G and the trouble with CDOs
On Wednesday, UK insurer L&G’s preliminary annual results revealed the following clarification:
We have separately identified our CDO investments, which have previously been classified within ABS. Of the total £1,004m of CDO investments,
L&G reassures on capital strength
Legal & General on Tuesday sought to reassure investors over its capital position, saying it would double the reserves it sets aside for defaults on corporate bonds to £1.2bn. The statement came as the UK insurance and investment group reported a 45% decline in its capital surplus in final quarter of the year.
Legal & General’s £1.3bn hit
The market has reacted positively to Legal & General’s statement earlier this morning. Shares in the insurer are currently trading up 10 per cent – having taken a bashing on Monday and last week on persistent rumours of capital trouble.
Capital fears hit L&G shares
Shares in Legal & General fell 11% Monday to a low of 44.3p on continuing concerns that it could be forced to cut its dividend or raise capital. The FT on Saturday revealed that L&G was in talks with the FSA watchdog on the amount of money it should set aside for potential defaults in its £22.5bn corporate bond portfolio.
L&G warns on funds hit by Lehman collapse
Legal & General has notified 2,300 investors who put more than £33m into two funds until 2011, warning that a fifth of their capital was no longer protected from stock market falls following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Life assurers mull capital rule changes
A group of European insurance finance directors is poised to bow to pressure to rethink new financial reporting rules that could cut some life assurers’ profits and solvency capital. The CFO Forum is
L&G, or too many Friday afternoon G&Ts?
Legal & General, growth stock, “market price” up 94p or 124 per cent, to 170p:
It’s an idiot fat-finger trade, obviously – 1.95m shares changing hands at 170p during the end of day auction.
Someone will be sweating this weekend.
L&G hit by falling stock markets
Legal & General, one of the UK’s biggest life assurers, insisted its financial position remained strong as it revealed the extent to which the global turmoil is damaging savers’ confidence. Tim Breedon,
L&G in £1bn share buyback
Legal & General, Britain’s third largest insurer, announced plans on Thursday for a £1bn share buyback after reporting that 2007 first-half pre-tax profit rose by 24 per cent and operating profit rose £8m to £342m.