Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) has suffered its fair share of slings and arrows, and now it's the turn of its shareholders to share the pain.
The emerging markets-focused bank, under new management, has halved the dividend after first half profits slumped 44% to US$1.8bn due to adverse loan impairments.
New chief executive Bill Winters said the lower dividend reflected the bank's “current earnings expectation and outlook”.
The cut shored up the company's common tier 1 equity position – a key measure of the balance sheet strength of banks – and the market responded by nudging the shares up a couple of percentage points.
Some analysts have suggested that the company will still need a monster rights issue to plug a US$5bn hole in its balance sheet.
Scotland's Macfarlane Group (LON:MACF), a manufacturer and distributor of packaging consumable products, does not often hit the headlines but it is garnering some attention today with news of a £2.75mln acquisition.
Given the company is valued at £55mln, this is the very definition of a “bolt-on” acquisition, and it is hard to discern why the news is garnering so much attention, though the prominent coverage given by Scottish titles may have something to do with it.
All the noos that's fit to print, as it were.
The company is acquiring Nottingham-based One Packaging as its seeks to strengthen its packaging distribution activities in the East Midlands.
Distribution, did someone say? Shame One Packaging had not chosen the name One Direction for itself; it might have got even more coverage then.
Also on the acquisition trail is defence technology group Cohort (LON:CHRT), which is buying Empresa de Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Electrónica, a Portuguese company.
EID, as it is known to its friends, is a supplier of advanced electronics, communications and command and control products used by the military.
Cohort is paying €19mln on what is its biggest deal to date outside of the UK.
Not to be outdone, Polypipe (LON:PLP), the largest manufacturer in the UK of plastic pipes, is splashing out £145mln on Nuaire, a provider of ventilation solutions.
Wait! There's another one. Restore (LON:RST), the document management specialist, is paying £1.45mln for The Data Imaging and Archiving Company, an outfit that obviously subscribes to the Ronseal school of branding.
Lastly, happy-go-lucky (it says here) airline Ryanair (LON:RYA) carried a record number of passengers in July, topping the 10mln number for the first time.
Chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said the upsurge was down to “stronger forward bookings” and also the success of its 'Always Getting Better' customer experience improvement programme.