Business

Finance chief of FTSE-100 manufacturer Spirax quits RS Group board

Published

2 months ago

2 February 2026

NewsAdmin

Louisa Burdett has stepped down as non-executive director and audit committee chair

Inside Spirax Group’s plant in Cheltenham(Image: Hannah Baker)

A major Cheltenham engineering group has announced its finance chief has stepped down from the board of one of its major distributors. London-listed Spirax confirmed on Monday (February 2) that Louisa Burdett had left the board of RS Group Plc – a FTSE-250 distributor of industrial and electrical products based in London – on January 31.

Ms Burdett joined the board of RS Group in 2017, according to its website, and has a background in financial, commercial, M&A and risk management. She served as a non-executive director and audit committee chair.

Ms Burdett was previously chief financial officer of Croda International; chief financial officer of Meggitt; group finance director at Victrex; and chief financial officer at Optos and the Financial Times Group.

She joined Cheltenham-headquartered Spirax Group, a FTSE 100 company, in 2024.

Spirax is made up of three businesses – steam thermal, electric thermal and fluid technology – and employs some 10,000 staff across 68 countries. It has 30 manufacturing plants around the world.

In November, the company warned over the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The group said at the time the lack of certainty was “dampening business confidence” and demand for larger projects.

The company reported a fall in profits last August amid a “challenging macroeconomic environment”. The business saw statutory revenue dip by one per cent to £822.2m for the six months to June 30, while profit before tax fell to £87.9m from £124.8m the year before.

Spirax carried out a restructure last year which it said would realise annual savings of around £35m that would be used to fund investment in future organic growth.

Business

Non-life insurers seen holding up better than life peers

Published

2 minutes ago

7 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Non-life insurers seen holding up better than life peers

Mumbai: Indian insurers across the spectrum of services are expected to report rather circumspect fourth-quarter earnings, with a meltdown in equities in the aftermath of the Iran war wiping out investment gains for bulge-bracket institutional holders of stock, brokerages said.

Industry profitability is expected to be muted due to market conditions, Emkay said in a report. It said the nearly 14% decline in the Nifty 50 during Q4 and a 40-basis point rise in bond yields weighed 4-5% negative economic variance for private life insurers and 1% negative for Life Insurance Corp (LIC)-the biggest local institutional holder of stock.

The annualised premium equivalent (APE) in FY26 at life insurers would expand in high single digits. This slowdown in life insurance demand is partly driven by equity market volatility and rising yield expectations, which have dampened demand for ULIPs and non-par guaranteed products.

However, Axis Max Life is expected to lead followed by Life Insurance Corporation of India.

HDFC Life is expected to report single-digit APE growth, with traction balanced across savings products, while value of new business (VNB) margins are likely to remain stable at around 24.5%. ICICI Prudential Life may see higher single-digit growth, with VNB margins at about 24%.

SBI Life is likely to report high single-digit APE growth in the quarter, with FY26 APE growth estimated at around 14% year-on-year, impacted by a slowdown in ULIP sales toward the latter half of March amid volatile equity markets. Its VNB margins are expected to remain stable at around 27%. LIC is likely to report a relatively stronger 13% growth, aided by group business, with VNB margins around 20% as it continues to pivot toward non-participating products.
In contrast, general and standalone health insurers are expected to deliver robust growth. ICICI Lombard General Insurance is likely to report 10-12% growth in gross written premium, supported by motor and health segments, although commercial lines may see a slowdown. Its combined ratio is expected to remain broadly flat at around 102.6%, weighed down by higher expense ratios. Star Health and Allied Insurance is expected to post strong double-digit growth, aided by improved affordability following GST rate changes and normalisation of earlier regulatory impacts. Both claims and combined ratios are likely to improve.