Stephen Hester has demonstrated that his action plan to turn around RSA Insurance is running ahead of schedule, leading to the suspicion that the targets set out for 2017 will be exceeded — as indeed, they almost always are in such situations. The only question is whether he and the company will still be there by then.
The noises coming out of Zurich Insurance, outed as a potential bidder late last month, are contradictory, as are analysts’ hopes of where any bid may be pitched. Some dream of £6 a share, others think the Swiss insurer will pay a bit above £5, an offer that would seem to have little chance of success.
It would have to be an agreed deal, and Zurich has until