Tepid response to strategy overhaul
INVESTORS hoping for a radical vision from HSBC at its strategy day expressed disappointment yesterday and the bank’s shares fell back to close down 1.54 per cent lower for the day.
BNP Paribas’ Sin Fai Lam summarised the review as “reiteration, no revolution” and called the stock “a boring yielder” while Seymour Pierce’s Bruce Packard said of its headline figures: “Most of these targets have already been outlined.”
After viewing the main points, RBS analysts concluded: “We see little explicit emphasis on group revenue growth or on how to create more shareholder value from the mainland China strategy. In our view, these are critical to drive a sustained re-rating from here.”
However, most analysts are still bullish on the stock, citing the bank’s exposure to high-growth markets as the main reason.
The bank said that it would use disposals to mitigate the impact of Basel III capital requirements and offered a moderate assessment of the interim report released by the Independent Commission on Banking: “We’re waiting to see how much bail-in debt we have to hold… The ringfence proposals are what was expected,” said chairman Douglas Flint.