Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) is preparing to return to the private sector, its chairman revealed Friday, as the group posted an £826mln profit for the first quarter of the year.
Chief executive Stephen Hester told investors that RBS’s restructuring would be “substantially complete” by the middle of next year, paving the way for the sale of some or all of the taxpayer’s 82% stake.
The return to the black in the first quarter compared with a £2.3bn loss in the comparable period last year.
Lower bad debts and the benefits coming through from its heavy cost cutting programme helped Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) swing back into the black.
Shares in the state-controlled bank rose by more than 4% on the results, which came in above most analysts’ expectations.
No further addition to its payment protection insurance provisions also helped underlying profits jump to £1.5bn (from £497 mln).
BP (LON:BP.) posted lower quarterly profits as output dipped following the divestment of its half of the TNK-BP joint venture.
The profits, though, were ahead of market expectations thanks to a strong performance by downstream – refining and marketing - and especially the trading operations.
The oil giant swapped its stake in TNK-BP for a near 20% stake in Russian titan Rosneft, but even though underlying production rose 2%, overall output was down by 5% in the three months to March.
BP said it also expects production in the second quarter to be lower as a result of planned seasonal turnaround activity in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea.
Anglo–Dutch oil giant Shell (LON:RDSB) surprised investors with the news that chief executive Peter Voser is to retire next year. Voser took over the reins at oil and gas giant in 2009 and has been on the board since 2004.
Shell made the announcement as it unveiled a 3% increase in first quarter earnings to US$7.5bn, well above the US$5.6bn the Anglo-Dutch firmed earned in the preceding quarter.
Shares in British aero giant Rolls Royce (LON:RR.) also shocked its supporters as the head of its aerospace division left after just for months in the job.
Mark King has decided to resign at the end of June. He will be replaced by Tony Wood, who has been named as president of the division. He will take up the role on May 13. The FTSE 100 firm gave no reason for King's departure.
It comes as the Serious Fraud Office is investigating claims that Rolls representatives paid bribes to win contracts in Asia.
Whitbread (LON:WTB) reported full year results that were in line with expectations and mapped out an aggressive expansion of both Premier Inn and Costa coffee shops.
Revenue was up 14% to £2.03bn, including like-for-like sales up 3.7%, Premier Inn sales up 3.1%, and Costa recording a 6.8% rise in sales.
Finally, after a year of haggling, regulatory hold-ups, salary renegotiations, boardroom shuffling and slumping commodity prices, the behemoth that is Glencore–Xstrata (LON:GLEN) finally emerged into the full glare of the City’s mining analysts.
A rush of bullish notes greeted its entrance.
JP Morgan led the way with an overweight stance and 450p price target. “We believe GlencoreXstrata can deliver what other miners cannot – capital returns comensurate with its 6-7% FCF yield,” it said.