Monday, 29 August 2011

Lloyds Pushed $5.3 Billion Into Red By Insurance Mis-Selling

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Compensating customers who were mis-sold insurance pushed Lloyds 3.25 billion pounds ($5.3 bln) into the red in the first half but the loss was broadly as expected and the British bank reiterated its full-year guidance.

Excluding the 3.2 billion pounds Lloyds had already earmarked to cover mis-selling liabilities, the bank's adjusted pretax profit was 1.1 billion pounds, down from 1.6 billion pounds reported a year earlier.

That was broadly in line with the 1 billion pound figure expected by analysts, according to the average forecast on Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"Our guidance given in our Strategic Review announcement on 30 June 2011 remains unchanged," the company said in a statement on Thursday. "We continue to monitor economic conditions closely, notably in the UK and Eurozone."

Lloyds, 41-percent owned by the British government after a credit crisis bailout, said it had cut impairment charges on bad loans by 17 percent to 5.4 billion pounds although its Wealth & International unit reported a 2.1 billion pound loss, primarily due to higher impairment charges in Ireland.

($1 = 0.609 British Pounds)       

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Steve Slater; Writing by Paul Hoskins)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved


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Google Cries Foul On Apple, Microsoft Mobile Gang-Up

(Reuters) - Google Inc, fresh from losing a bid to buy thousands of patents from bankrupt Nortel, lashed out at its biggest rivals on Wednesday and accused them of banding together to block the Internet giant in the red-hot smartphone arena.



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Aon Global Client Network Leaders Appointed COO and Senior Managing Director

CHICAGO, Aug. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aon Risk Solutions, the global risk management and insurance brokerage business of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON), today announced the appointment of Clyde Ebanks to chief operating officer of the Aon Global Client Network and Bruce Wineman to Aon Global Client Network senior managing director for the U.S. and Canada. With a team of more than 1,200 professionals, the Aon Global Client Network is unsurpassed in geographic breadth and depth of talent and specializes in providing risk management advice and delivering superior service to multinational clients in every segment.



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California Authority Plans More Catastrophe Bonds Soon

NEW YORK, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The California Earthquake Authority plans to take part in more catastrophe bond deals every four to six months after successfully closing its first one this week, the agency said on Tuesday.



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Lincoln Financial Group Enhances Its Elite Series of Funds Offering With the Launch of Lincoln Variable Insurance Product Dimensional Funds and Vanguard ETF Funds

California Earthquake Authority Completes Landmark Deal, Pioneering New Way to Manage and Diversify Financial Risk Posed by Natural Disasters

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) today said it has completed a first-of-its-kind transaction that opens a more direct path to transfer the financial risk posed by earthquakes.



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Sunday, 28 August 2011

ING Wavers On Insurance IPO Plan

(Reuters) - ING (ING.AS) will not be launching a stock market flotation for its insurance operations any time soon and trade buyers are expressing interest, the Dutch bancassurer said on Thursday.



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