ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF STANDARD CHARTERED’S RESULTS? May 4, 2010 NIC CLARKE | CHARLES STANLEY RESEARCH “Our recommendation is ‘accumulate’. Standard Chartered remains our preferred favoured stock in the UK banking sector. It appears the bad debt position has improved. The performance of the wholesale bank is strong but we would like to see an improved share of group profits from consumer banking.” RICHARD CURR [...]
Standard Chartered in record quarterly profit May 4, 2010 STANDARD Chartered has reported record first quarter profits – fuelled by a strong wholesale banking and improving consumer banking In wholesale banking, which includes advisory, trade finance and other investment banking business, client income was up over 20 per cent on the first quarter of 2009. The bank, which does not publish full quarterly results, [...]
There are still plenty of reasons to be sceptical about the recovery May 3, 2010 ALTHOUGH news of a €110bn bailout package for Greece failed to calm the market’s jitters, investors are generally increasingly confident. Standard Chartered’s Risk Appetite Index is edging higher in risk neutral territory while volatility has dropped – the Vix is back below 20 while the European VStoxx is down 22 per cent over the past [...]
FTSE boosted by strong results from UK companies and Greek debt rescue April 29, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index rose yesterday, buoyed by consensus beating results from UK corporates and as anxiety over the Eurozone’s debt crisis eased, though BP sank as a major oil spill worsens. The FTSE 100 closed up 31.23 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 5,617.84, but the index remains down 1.9 per cent on the [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS April 29, 2010 STATE-OWNED MORTGAGE LENDERS FAIL TO SATISFY State-owned mortgage providers are trailing behind smaller lenders and building societies for customer satisfaction, says a new survey from Which? Money. Bank of Scotland – part of Lloyds Banking Group – had the lowest score; just 41 per cent of customers were satisfied with the provider. Halifax (44 per [...]
FTSE drops after Spain downgrade April 28, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed lower yesterday, extending the previous session’s steep falls, after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Spain’s credit rating to AA, overshadowing strong corporate earnings. The FTSE 100 index closed down 16.91 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,586.61, after it tumbled 2.6 per cent on Tuesday — its biggest one-day [...]
FTSE sees biggest fall in five months after S&P slashes rating on Greece April 27, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index dropped 2.6 per cent yesterday, the biggest fall in over five months as S&P downgrades for Greece and Portugal fuelled debt crisis contagion worries, smacking banks and commodity issues. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 150.33 points at 5,603.52, easily snapping an 88 point rally seen in the [...]
Barclays sells Africa custody unit April 27, 2010 Barclays said yesterday it would sell its African custody business to Standard Chartered, its emerging markets-focused rival. The bank, which did not disclose the value of the deal, said it had exited the global custody business outside Africa in 1998 and that the remaining African unit is profitable but “would benefit from the synergies a [...]
Demand surges for City accountants April 26, 2010 SURGING demand for accountants has driven growth in member and student numbers for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), which now has a global membership of 140,000. The 6.5 per cent annual growth in ACCA members came as student numbers increased from 366,000 to 404,000 – a rise of 10.4 per cent. ACCA chief executive [...]
ANALYSIS | UK BANKS April 26, 2010 WHILE banker bashing has become something of a national sport here in the UK, it has had little discernible impact on the share prices of our largest financial institutions, which have posted strong performances since their lows in the first quarter of 2009. The partially nationalised banks, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, have seen their [...]