Britannic, the publicly-listed insurance group which owns Glasgow-based Britannia Asset Management, is keeping under wraps a #4.5bn bid for mutual insurer Royal London, according to a new report.

Britannic is said to be keen to benefit from the present merger frenzy surrounding mutual insurers, but is keeping its powder dry until the dust settles on the present round of negotiations.

According to industry sources, Britannic could generate savings of #100m by combining its door-to-door insurance business with that of Royal London, the mutual which has been desperate to offload its excess capital by bidding for a wide range of financial targets. Royal London failed to buy Scottish Provident, and is now on the short-list to buy fund manager Murray Johnstone and is in talks to buy Scottish Life along with fellow mutual Liverpool Victoria. But Britannic is said to be waiting to see whether Liverpool Victoria is stung by a bid from ''vulture fund'' Life Assurance Holdings set up by Sir Mark Weinberg, which is said to be mulling over a #2.5bn offer. Britannic would then move in with a ''white knight'' counterbid.

q Intelligent Finance, the Halifax's Internet bank plagued by launch delays, is now struggling to meet its third (unofficial) launch date target of the end of September. Bank sources said at the weekend that system testing was still incomplete.