The week's winners
Culver up 31.8%
Benfield up 1.9%
The week's winners Culver up 31.8%Benfield up 1.9%
The week's losersHighway down 8.4%R&SA down 7%There will be a couple of new arrivals on the alternative investment market (AIM) this month. Aquilo, the business solutions and consulting services provider, is one such arrival and it will be interesting to see what happens. It is understood that the company is set to float at 4p per share this week, though Aquilo could not confirm a price.Pavilion, the specialist musical instruments and photography insurer, is also set to float on AIM this month. It has raised around £1.1m via a placing. Looking further afield, US-based risk management and insurance broker Aon announced its first quarter results for 2003. It reported a pre-tax profit of $300m, which was 12% up on the $268m reported for the first quarter of 2003. The results also included a $37m pre-tax unusual charge for the World Trade Centre. Pre-tax profit for its insurance underwriting fell by $10m to £63m for 2003's quarter. Aon said this resulted from underperformance in certain warranty, credit and P&C lines. Going forward, Patrick Ryan, chief executive of the company said: "Our goals for the risk and insurance brokerage services segment are a pre-tax margin in the high teens for full year 2004 and at least 20% for full year 2005."Finally, it is good to see that Warren Buffett still stands by his Berkshire Hathaway investment vehicle rather than setting his sights on Google. (Although it has to be said that Buffett has always steered clear of investing in the technology sector.) Berkshire, a holding company and capital provider of Euclidian's syndicate 1243, saw its earnings nearly double from £2.4bn in 2002 to £4.6bn in 2003. Its class A shares are trading at an all-time record at $93,390 or £52,095.
