UK bank Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) and oil supermajor Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB) expect to take a one-off hit from the recently announced reforms to the US tax, although both agree the changes will be “favourable” in the long run.
The corporate tax overhaul was unveiled by President Donald Trump last week, and will see the rate slashed from 35% to 21% as he looks to attract more investment in the US from the world’s biggest firms.
However, the changes also require companies to recalculate deferred tax assets that have accumulated on their balance sheets.
Barclays said on Wednesday it will take a writedown of about £1bn (US$1.34bn) on its annual post-tax profit as a result of the overhaul, which in turn will reduce its CET1 capital ratio - a key measure of its financial strength - by about 20 basis points.
That said, the bank - headed up by Jes Staley - still expects the reforms to “positively impact” future post-tax earnings in the US.
Shell echoed those sentiments claiming the changes will be “favourable” in the future, although it too added that profits would be dented in the short term.
Based on its third quarter results, Shell estimates it will incur a charge to earnings of between US$2bn and US$2.5bn when it announces its full-year results in February.