The London-listed, Asian-focused Standard Chartered Bank published its second quarter update this morning, noting a sharp rise in income from its wealth management division which despite contractions in other areas such as interest margins, was sufficient to see profits beating expectations. The company also announced a record-breaking $1.5 billion share buy-back, which fuelled support in the underlying market. The Standard Chartered share price added more than 5% in early trade.
Full year numbers from the brewers of Guinness were out this morning, headlining with news of resilient performance and improved market share in the second half of the year, but a sharp fall in sales in Latin American and the Caribbean resulted in a 5% drop in volumes. Strong margin improvement may have bolstered profitability despite the decline in sales but high inflation and soft consumer confidence were impacting visibility in the medium term. Investors were quick to react, sending the Diageo share price almost 10% lower in the first hour of trade.
A stellar market reaction this morning from the FTSE-250 listed wealth managers St James’s Place after the company published a half year updated including news of aggressive cost saving measures designed to save £500m over the next five years. Key metrics such as gross inflows and retention of client funds remained stable, whilst funds under management hit a record high of £182 billion. Investors are being rewarded with an interim dividend of 6p and a £33m share buyback to be completed in Q3. The St James’s Place share price was up more than 20% shortly after the open, returning to levels not seen in more than five months.
Headlines we expect on Wednesday
HSBC Interim Results
This time last year Pre-tax profits $21.7bn, Net Interest Margin 1.7%, RoTE 22.4%
Reach Interim Results
This time last year Revenue £279.4m, Operating profit £36.1m, Dividend 2.88p
