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The FTSE 100 is a stock index that tracks the 100 largest publicly-traded companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The companies are ranked by market capitalisation – the combined value of the FTSE 100 is worth more than 80% of the entire LSE’s market cap.
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8 March 2021 | 07:28am
StockMarketWire.com - Insurance company Phoenix posted a large rise in annual profit after higher premium revenue and lower expenses helped offset fall in investment income.
Pre-tax profit for the year through December jumped to £1.27 billion, up from £351 million year-on-year.
Gross written premium climbed 17% to £4.71 billion and was boosted by the acquisition of ReAssure
Phoenix generated cash of £1.7 billion, above the upper end of its £1.5 billion-to-£1.6 billion target range.
The company declared a 3% rise in its final dividend to 24.1p per share, bringing the full-year payout to 47.5p per share, up 1.5% year-on-year. 2020 was a landmark year for Phoenix during which we completed the acquisition of ReAssure and became the UK s largest long-term savings and retirement business, chief executive Andy Briggs said.
Insurers Ink $90 Billion in Merger Deals as They Pursue Post-Coronavirus Clout
Insurers pummeled by the pandemic are looking to deals as they race to see who’ll emerge strongest when the outbreak subsides.
The takeover of RSA Insurance Group Plc and Allstate Corp.’s largest acquisition ever have helped push industry deals announced this year to nearly $93 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. With other major companies including Zurich Insurance Group AG eyeing purchases, 2020 is on course to be one of the biggest for deals since the last financial crisis.
Insurers were already under pressure to combine before the coronavirus battered their balance sheets, with record low bond yields and mounting regulation costs chipping away at their earnings for years. As the pandemic accelerates those trends and squeezes valuations, a new sense of urgency has kicked in. With the onus on boosting income from premiums, many are focusing on bulking up in markets where they’re fi