Aviva completes sale of CIMB Berhad businesses

12th Apr 2013 08:11

Insurance group Aviva has completed the sale of its 49 per cent stake in CIMB Aviva Assurance Berhad and CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad to Canadian group, Sun Life Assurance Company. The £152m sale is part of the group's strategy to narrow its focus and concentrate on businesses and markets where it ho

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Broker tips: Rio Tinto, Aviva, TUI Travel

27th Mar 2013 11:10

Credit Suisse has kept its 'outperform' rating and 4,000p target price for mining giant Rio Tinto following a revised technical report for the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia which included higher costs. "A capex increase has been well anticipated by the market in our view and reflec

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Broker snap: UBS cuts target price for Aviva but stays upbeat

27th Mar 2013 10:27

UBS has reduced its target price for insurance group Aviva from 450p to 440p following this month's 2012 results but has maintained its 'buy' recommendation for the stock. Shares in Aviva have tanked 15% over the past month after a surprise cut in the dividend for 2012, as it took a £3.3bn write-do

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London close: Markets subdued in Budget aftermath

20th Mar 2013 16:16

Markets on the whole gave a muted reaction to George Osborne's Budget Statement today, in which he warned that Britain would grow less and borrow more than originally estimated, while traders continued to digest developments elsewhere, including the Cypriot bailout and a meeting at the US Federal Re

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FTSE 100 movers: RBS boosted by Liberum Capital upgrade

20th Mar 2013 15:49

Royal Bank of Scotland was higher after Liberum Capital upgraded the stock to 'buy' with its target price at 340p. Hammerson also climbed following an upgrade by Oriel Securities to add. A number of property and construction & materials companies were higher, boosted by new plans unveiled in the

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Sector movers: Prudential boosts life insurance sector as profits surge

13th Mar 2013 15:13

An impressive rise in the share price of financial services firm Prudential meant that the life insurance sector was the best performer of the day on Wednesday. Prudential, which provides insurance, pensions and asset management, was trading 8.07% higher at 1,112p in afternoon trade after increasin

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New Aviva chief invests half a million quid after share-price fall

12th Mar 2013 16:30

Mark Wilson, the newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer of insurance giant Aviva, bought his first stake in the company on Tuesday, just days after the firm disappointed the City with its results for 2012. Wilson acquired 150,000 ordinary shares at 321.1113p each for a total of £481,667, his total

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John Menzies director trades in 100,000 shares

11th Mar 2013 16:20

Ian Harrison, a non-executive Director of John Menzies, the FTSE 250 aviation and distribution group, has sold 100,000 at 766.00p each, it was announced Monday. The £766,000 transaction comes less than a week after the company pleased investors with an upbeat set of full-year results for 2012, desp

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Sunday share tips: Prudential, Diageo, TUI Travel

10th Mar 2013 22:05

Over the last five years Prudential benefitted greatly from its expansion in southeast Asia, as the region´s middle class emerged. Helping matters was the lack of a social safety net and free health services in these countries, which stoked demand for the company´s insurance products. Thus, in the l

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London close: Markets cement gains after strong US jobs data

8th Mar 2013 16:56

The FTSE 100 registered its highest closing price in over five years on Friday after a key indicator of the US labour market smashed expectations. However, the figures failed to give stocks a boost in afternoon trade as investors pondered whether the data is strong enough to prompt the Federal Rese

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Cupid CEO shows commitment to group with share purchase

8th Mar 2013 16:11

Dating group Cupid announced Friday that its Chief Executive, Bill Dobbie, had on Thursday purchased 865,000 ordinary shares at 114.11p each, following a strong set of full year results out earlier in the week. The purchase cost him £987,052 and took his stake in the group to just under 14.68m sha

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FTSE 100 movers: Evraz rises on hopes of greater demand from Asia

8th Mar 2013 15:15

Evraz rose into the top spot as the prospects of greater demand from Asia looked up, boosted by the release of a sharp upwards revision to Japanese growth estimates for the last three months of 2012. Shares in financial companies were also making decent gains in early trading as risk appetite incr

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London midday: Stocks rise as market prices in strong US jobs data

8th Mar 2013 11:36

Markets maintained their positive bias on Friday morning as traders showed confidence ahead of a key reading of labour-market strength in the US later on, the February employment report. Increased risk appetite in London meant that financial stocks were leading the way higher today. Expectations r

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London open: Risk appetite increases ahead of US jobs report

8th Mar 2013 08:25

The FTSE 100 was firmly in positive territory on Friday morning ahead of the crucial US employment report due out this afternoon, with traders hoping that jobs figures could beat forecasts given the solid economic data seen as of late. The US jobs report, out at 13:30 London time, is expected to gi

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Friday tips round-up: Aviva, IMI, H&T Group,

8th Mar 2013 06:45

Aviva has come a long way and yesterday´s dividend cut does not negate all that has been achieved since Mark Wilson took over at the helm last May. The company needed to decrease its pay-out to reduce the strain from interest payments on profits. The real challenge, however, will be to increase the

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