Yahoo Finance What to Watch: Lloyds and Shell results, Barclays showdown, and Bank of England decision
Here are the top business, market, and economic stories you should be watching today in the UK, Europe, and abroad:
Lloyds profits flat
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) reported flat first-quarter pre-tax profits at £1.6bn as it warned Brexit uncertainty could take a further toll on the UK economy.
“While Brexit uncertainty persists, and continued uncertainty could further impact the economy, I remain confident that our unique business model, and in particular our market-leading efficiency and targeted investment, will continue to deliver superior performance and returns for our customers and shareholders,” Antonio Horta-Osorio, group chief executive of Lloyds, said.
The bank took a £100m charge for the payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal and said it continues to see around 13,000 complaints a week over PPI mis-selling.
Lloyds booked charges of £126m for restructuring. Another £339m hit includes an estimated charge for ending its mammoth contract early with asset manager Standard Life Aberdeen.
Shell profits fall
Profits slid at Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA.L/RDSB.L) as weaker oil prices and margin pressures impacted the company.
The blue chip firm posted statutory earnings of $5.3bn (£4.1bn) for the first quarter, down 7% on the same period last year.
The price of Brent crude oil sank to an 18-month low at the end of December, holding back profits in the sector.
“Shell has made a strong start to 2019, with the first-quarter financial performance demonstrating the strength of our strategy and the quality of our portfolio of assets,” Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said.
“The consistent financial performance across all our businesses provides confidence in meeting our 2020 outlook.”
Bank of England rates decision
Economists expect the Bank of England to leave the UK interest rate unchanged this week, but flag a rate rise later this year.
This week is “Super Thursday” for the Bank of England — the central bank will publish the latest decision of its interest rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the minutes from the MPC’s latest meeting, and the latest inflation report.
Bank governor Mark Carney will also give a press conference after the documents are published at 12pm UK time.
Economists expect the MPC to leave the headline interest rate unchanged at 0.75%.
However, a combination of better-than-expected economic growth, rising inflation risks, and reduced no-deal Brexit risks means forecasters expect the Bank of England to hint that rates could rise later this year.
Barclays set for showdown
Barclays (BARC.L) faces an attempted boardroom coup by a soft-spoken activist investor who is calling for radical cuts to its investment bank.
Shareholders will vote on Thursday whether to appoint activist investor Edward Bramson to Barclays board at the bank’s annual general meeting. Bramson, who has a 5.5% stake in the bank, has called the vote against Barclays’ wishes.
The two sides have waged a war of words in recent weeks and Thursday’s vote represents the culmination of the battle.
European markets
European stock markets were lower after the US Federal Reserve held its headline interest rate unchanged at a target range of 2.25% to 2.5%.
“Though the dollar didn’t get much of a boost from the Federal Reserve last night, the central bank’s statement hit the Dow Jones hard, feeding into a negative European open,” according to Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at SpreadEx.
Britain's FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was down by 0.2%, Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) was down by 0.2%, France's CAC 40 (^FCHI) was down by 0.6%, and the Euronext 100 (^N100) was down by 0.6%.
Asian markets were mixed overnight. Japan's Nikkei 225 (^N225) was down by 0.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (^HSI) was up by 0.8%, and China's benchmark Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was up by 0.5%.
What to expect in the US
US stock futures were pointing to a higher open later Thursday. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) were up by 0.1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) were up by 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were up by 0.2%.
Companies reporting in the US on Thursday include:
