Dynamic Wealth Management Headlines: Zurich Financial Services profits up 20% in first half
Posted in USA TODAY | August 19th, 2011
http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20110811/NEWS04/110819931
ZURICH—Zurich Financial Services Ltd.’s profit climbed to $1.97 billion during the six months ended June 30, an increase of 20% compared with the same period of 2010, the Swiss insurer reported Thursday.
Although Zurich suffered catastrophe-related losses during the first six months of this year, it benefited from a gain of $441 million before tax on the sale of shares in Beijing-based New China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Zurich said it reduced its stake in the Beijing-based life insurer to 15% from 20% in February.
Zurich’s gross written general insurance premiums and policy fees rose 5% to $18.88 billion during the first six months of 2011, compared with the same period last year. In its global life unit, premiums and policy fees gained 1% year over year to $13.11 billion in the first half. Meanwhile Zurich’s Farmers Management Services unit saw revenues fall 2% year over year to $1.34 billion between January and June.
Catastrophe losses
During the first three months of the year, earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and weather events in Australia resulted in losses for Zurich’s general insurance unit totaling more than $500 million. In the second quarter, events in the U.S. such as multiple tornadoes and hail storms led to losses of $200 million, while aftershocks from the New Zealand earthquake also contributed another $80 million of hits. The general insurance unit’s combined ratio worsened to 99.3% in the first half from 98% during the same period 2010.
But Zurich’s combined ratio improved by 1.6% to 95.3% in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2010.
“We continue to focus on our pricing and portfolio discipline,” Zurich CEO Martin Senn said in a statement Thursday.
Zurich’s net investment result on group investments rose to $4.22 billion in the first half, up 6% from the same period last year. During the first half of 2010, Zurich’s profit had slipped after losses related to global weather and the Chile earthquake.
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Dynamic Wealth Management Headlines: Congress seeks CBI probe in alleged BIADA land scam in Bihar
Posted in BUSINESS RESEARCH NEWS, LATEST TECHNOLOGY TRENDS, TECHNOLOGY NEWS, USA TODAY | August 6th, 2011
Patna, Jul 24 (PTI) Accusing the NDA government of nepotism in allotment of BIADA land at a ‘throw away’ price to the favoured few, including kin of ministers and bureaucrats, the Congress today demanded a CBI probe in the matter. The state government has apparently rewarded its favourite people by allotting Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority land at a ‘throw away price’ for construction of schools, malls, shopping complexes, hotels, cinema halls etc against the stated policy to promote industrial development in the state, the state unit Congress President Chaudhary Mehboob Ali
Kaiser told reporters. In a particular instance, a plot of 2.5 acres of BIADA land was allotted to a person for construction of a shopping mall at Hajipur for a measely amount of Rs 44 lakhs against the prevailing market rate of Rs three crores per acre, he claimed. In other instances, the BIADA land has been allotted to the kin of ministers and bureaucrats at the expense of public interest, Kaiser said, adding that the alleged land scam was worth more than the combined value of all scams that has taken place in Bihar till now.
The sheer magnitude of the amount involved in the BIADA land scam and the manner in which the rules were tweaked to allot the land to the beneficiaries on ‘first come first serve’ basis instead of auction, smacked of corruption that required to be investigated by the CBI, the state unit Congress chief said.
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Dynamic Wealth Management Headlines: Stocks Set For Lower Open As Debt Fears Hit The Market With IBM (IBM) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT) On The Move
http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com/newsbites/1287668
First look… Stock futures pointed to a weaker start this morning, following losses across Europe and Asia, with earnings from International Business Machines (IBM) among the highlights to come after the market closes. Asian stock markets ended mostly lower Monday as concerns over U.S. and European sovereign-debt issues kept investors wary. A number of shares in the region fell on company or stock specific news or worries. Decliners included Citic Pacific, which tumbled 8.5% in Hong Kong after the company informed the stock exchange of a delay in production at its iron-ore mine in Australia, to the first half of 2012 from late 2011. The drop came after Goldman Sachs lowered its earnings estimates for the company and downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. European stock markets finished lower on Friday after a report showed a big drop in U.S. consumer sentiment. The results of the latest European bank stress tests were released after the markets closed. Downbeat U.S. economic data overshadowed strong corporate earnings from companies such as Citigroup. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment fell sharply in July, souring the mood of investors. Banking shares fell ahead of the stress-test announcement. Among the biggest decliners in Europe was Temenos Group. The shares tumbled 20% in Zurich after the provider of banking-software systems lowered its full-year license outlook, saying banks face uncertainty and are unwilling to make decisions about large capital projects. Markets at the core of the euro-zone debt crisis posted steeper losses than others. Eight of the ten Asian/pacific markets we watch are down. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI is down 0.93%. The Japan Nikkei 225 is up 0.39%. All of the ten European markets we watch are down. The Borsa Italiana is down 1.76%. The OSE Norway All Share is down 1.03%. In pre-market trading Huntington Bancshares (HBAN), Newmont Mining (NEM), Halliburton (HAL), Goodyear (GT) and EOG Resources(EOG) are up, while Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Clorox (CLX), News Corp (NWSA), Carnival (CCL) and Peabody Energy (BTU) are down. [InvestorsKeyhole, various news and data sources]
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