Recent Sector News

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  RBS better placed to withstand Greek euro exit than rivals, says Morgan Stanley

  Royal Bank of Scotland is in a better position to withstand a Greek Euro exit than many of its European rivals according to broker Morgan Stanley.

   

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  RBS chief encouraged by progress despite further loss - UPDATE

  State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland posted another quarterly loss, though chief executive Stephen Hester said he was happy with the bank's progress.

   

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  RBS chief encouraged by progress despite further loss

  State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland posted another quarterly loss as it took extra provisions for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling, though chief executive Stephen Hester said he was happy with the bank's progress.

   

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  Lloyds shares climb as profit returns despite more PPI provisions

   

  More provisions for possible payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling knocked Lloyds Banking Group in its latest quarter though it did return to the black, boosting today's share price.

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  Barclays the top pick as the banks head into earnings season

  Barclays is a firm favourite of two heavyweight London brokers as we head into earnings season for the banking sector.

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  Royal Bank of Scotland “a longer term story”, says Investec

  After RBS issued a curate’s egg of a third quarter report this morning, with headline figures belying issues at the bank’s Global Banking & Markets division, Investec believes the shares still offer value over the long term.

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  Barclays rates a ‘buy’, say City analysts

  Research from Citigroup and Bereensberg Bank suggests that Barclays is undervalued at its current share price of just under 200 pence

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  Lloyds shares up despite confusion over Verde IPO

  The news this weekend that Lloyds is considering a flotation of its bank branches as a way of disposing them has led to conclusions that the bank is struggling to sell the branches, as originally planned, via a trade sale while one broker said that Lloyds may have been “badly advised”

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  Royal Bank of Scotland downgraded by Morgan Stanley

  But Collins Stewart highlights value at Barclays and Standard Chartered among other European banks due to their “attractive yields”.

  
  

   

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  Bank shares hit by Moody’s downgrades

  Shares in all four of the UK’s major banks had lost ground by lunchtime after the credit rating agency downgraded the debt of RBS and Lloyds along with several smaller UK-based financial institutions

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  Banks fail to hold onto early gains

  Banking shares have lost the small gains they made earlier in the day, while analysts are sceptical regarding revenue expectations in the sector, particularly at HSBC – which Evolution Securities is rating as a ‘sell’

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  Lloyds Banking Group has 79 per cent return potential, says Goldman

  Goldman Sachs, the US investment bank, has highlighted several catalysts for Lloyds’ share price to re-rate over the coming year 

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  Neutral response by bank shares to Vickers report

  Shares in Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS were largely unchanged in late trading on Monday after analysts judged recommendations in the Independent Commission on Banking report as being “no more draconian” than originally expected

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  Evolution upbeat on banking sector, saying even Lloyds offers better value than “quality names”

  Despite the banks’ specific problems, Evolution believes that the key measure of tangible NAV shows that Barclays, Lloyds and RBS are all undervalued

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  Royal Bank of Scotland a ‘buy’ after heavy fall, says Deutsche

  UK banks have suffered very badly in the recent big pullback on markets, with Royal Bank of Scotland having been particularly hard hit. But after plummeting more than 35 per cent in the last month Deutsche Bank analysts reckon RBS shares are well worth picking up now.

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  Lloyds and HSBC favoured by Goldman after big sell-off

  Banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds have had a pretty tough time in the big sell-off but Goldman Sachs reminds investors that the big fall in their share price has little to do with their metrics, mixed as they might be, but is more a reflection of their exposure to macro issues including economic.

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  Market pullback triggers Citi probe into pension risks at RBS and Lloyds

  The big falls in equity market values recently has inspired analysts at Citi to probe pension risks among UK banks. Their findings show that the domestic players, including Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, have particularly large pension liabilities relative to their market capitalisation.

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  UK banks given thumbs up by Societe Generale

  UK banks have won praise from Societe Generale for the “great strides” they have made since 2008 in cleaning up their balance sheets. Indeed the broker believes they are now very undervalued and cites Royal Bank of Scotland as its top pick. 

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  Royal Bank of Scotland struggles to convince Nomura

  Royal Bank of Scotland, one of the bailed-out banks, unveiled broadly-in-line interim headline numbers and assured restructuring remains on track. Drilling further down into the group’s commentary and balance sheet, however, has left analysts at Nomura still very cautious on prospects for the group. 

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  Royal Bank of Scotland suffers on market turmoil and weak interims

  An eye watering net loss of £1.453 billion at Royal Bank of Scotland driven heavily by provisions made for its part in the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal and a greater than expected write-down on its Greek debt, spooked already panicky investors

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  Lloyds Bank turnaround to remain extended work in progress

  While there are some crumbs of encouragement to be gained from Lloyds Bank’s interim statement, which revealed a hefty £3.25 billion pretax loss, the bailed-out group still has a long way to go before it full restores confidence in its prospects, with analysts generally continuing to exercise caution over the stock for now.

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  Barclays’ first half results get positive response in City

  After weeks of tough news for the investment banking sector, City analysts appear to be upbeat about Barclays – which yesterday announced half-year results that came in ahead of consensus estimates

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  All eyes on other banks after HSBC’s shock 30,000 job cutting move

  HSBC provided ample evidence today that times are still very uncertain for banks by announcing jobs cuts totalling 30,000 despite racking up interim profits of £6.8bn. Attention is now turning to other banks reporting this week, not least the two bailed out banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank.

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  Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank in focus ahead of earning reports

  With high street banks on the runway to illuminate on their second quarter performance over the coming week, analysts have been busy casting an eye over the sector, with the performance of the two bailed out banks, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, of major interest.

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  European banking woes provoke concern for Barclays, RBS and Lloyds

  Investors in Barclays and RBS are nervous ahead of next week’s interim results from the banks after UBS and Deutsche Bank, two of Europe’s largest banks, revealed weakness in the investment banking sector

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  RBS and Lloyds exposure to sovereign debt eyed by Citi analysts

  The ‘stress testing’ results for 90 European banks showed just eight failed but a deeper, more demanding analysis that takes fuller account of sovereign debt exposure by broker Citi finds no less than 31 institutions failing to make the grade. Among UK banks, and aside from Italy, Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and Lloyds (LON:LLOY) look exposed to an extent to Ireland debt, with Spain a potential drag for Barclays. 

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  Lender forbearance tricky to assess in detail, says Deutsche

  Worries about forbearance, whereby banks cut struggling borrowers slack, are growing on fears indiscriminate use of the practice could leave the sector exposed to further shocks. As Deutsche Bank notes, however, it is tricky assessing the practice in detail as disclosures on this front are inconsistent across the sector.

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  Lloyds Bank remains in neutral at Goldman Sachs

  Lloyds Banking Group's recently published strategic review helped steady investor nerves, with its incoming chief executive António Horta-Osório issuing credible long term financial targets. For Goldman Sachs, the review has certainly helped limit downside for the stock but the broker feels some near-term issues will limit advances.

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  Banking reform to impact Barclays?

  After a strong run for equities, I believe the markets are due a short term correction and the uncertainty surrounding the proposed banking reform and escalating sovereign default risk, which many of the banks have exposure too, is likely to impact the financial sector.

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  Asia dip to derail Standard Chartered?

  Asian equity markets have been comparatively weak this year, with the Shanghai stock gauge losing around 8% in 2010, versus a rise of 3.5% on the FTSE 100