Good news this week for two stocks that have been under pressure throughout 2004. First Royal & SunAlliance's share price tipped 73.5p on Tuesday, following a 52-week low of 68.75p which was achieved just a week before.
The boost came as chief executive Andy Haste and chief financial officer George Culmer raised their stakeholdings in the company.
In a statement, the company said Haste bought 69,257 shares at 72.19p, lifting his total interest to 0.0088%.
In a separate statement, the company said Culmer bought 34,843 shares at 71.75p, raising his total interest to 0.0012%.
The second stock to receive a boost was The Innovation Group which appears to be putting its troubled recent history behind it. Nine-month figures released this week showed a pre-tax loss of £6.5m to 30 June 2004 compared to £8.8m last time around.
Turnover was down though to £40.9m compared to £45m for the corresponding nine months of 2003. Its share price rose from 22p to almost 25p as Insurance Times went to press on Tuesday.
The Broker Network's share price has stabilised on AIM at just under 75p. This compares to just over 60p on 2 August.
Also on AIM, The Claims People stock is trading at over 1.6p compared to its price earlier this month of 1.5p.
Finally despite the doom of Hurricane Charley losses gathering over Lloyd's, Amlin had a shot in the arm this week. Early trading on 17 August saw the stock tip 150p after an upbeat trading statement that increased profit forecasts by 1.5% for 2003 and 1% for 2002.
An insurance sale could see the fortunes of Scottish third division minnows Gretna soar. Gretna benefactor Brooks Mileson, who owns 85% of ULR provider Albany, could sell his stake to Helphire for £45m, according to market speculators.
