Branded as the world’s local bank, HSBC unveiled interim results this morning and whilst profits were down, the drop wasn’t quite as marked as had been expected. Shareholders were further sweetened with news of a $3bn share buy back, coming on top of the £5bn already announced this financial year. Exceptional items had also bolstered the Return on Tangible Equity figure to above 20% but management conceded that this would be expected to fall back to the mid-teens in the near term. HSBC Shares were trading 3% higher shortly after the open.
The UK housebuilder also had interim results out this morning and whilst the overall theme was one of general malaise as the sector continues to battle against macroeconomic uncertainty and high borrowing costs, it wasn’t universally gloomy. Sales over the last four weeks showed a notable improvement from the same period a year ago, suggesting that there’s a little bit of confidence creeping back in now that some political stability is emerging following the elections. Whether that will now be undone by the threat of tax hikes remains to be seen and the note also highlighted the mid-term challenge faced by Housing Associations given rising borrowing costs. However, an hour into the day and Taylor Wimpey shares were trading almost 3% higher.
The AIM-listed biotechnology has this morning announced that UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is recommending its stroke test kit for NHS patients. It is being highlighted as the diagnostic platform of choice and management note that this presents a key milestone in the company’s commercialisation strategy. The Genedrive share price was as much as 30% higher in early trade before giving back around half of the gains by 9am.
Headlines we expect on Thursday
BAE Systems Interim Results
This time last year Order intake £21.1bn, Order backlog £66.2bn, Operating profit £1.2bn
London Stock Exchange Interim Results
This time last year Total income £4179m, Operating profit £729m, Dividend 35.7p
