Today we look at BP, BT, Centrica, HSBC, Rio Tinto and RBS.
The message at the moment from the stock market is that while the rest of us are scrimping and saving, many blue chip stocks are flush with cash.
For instance, the homebuilders are continuing to profiteer from the Government created housing crisis, and drink bingeing is helping the likes of Diageo to a £1.5bn share buyback. The latest company with too much money on its hands are said to be Rio Tinto and HSBC.
The Sunday Telegraph tells us that Rio Tinto is set to return more cash to shareholders via a healthy interim dividend and the prospect of more share buybacks, as it has successfully leverages the effect of rising commodities prices.
The Sunday Times announces that HSBC is set to announce a £1.5bn share buyback as soon as tomorrow, as part of a three year programme to run down what appears to be an embarrassingly large amount of cash.
Going the other way and we read in the Sunday Telegraph that BP’s attempt to cut costs will be spurred by divestments from the North Sea.
After announcing an extra hit of £250m due to its not knowing on what was going on at its Italian unit, we are informed at the Sunday Times that BT is committed to spending £600m speeding up internet speeds in rural areas. One would have thought ensuring proper coverage in the important commercial zones of big cities might be rather more important.
The Sunday Telegraph suggests that (recent alleged bid target) Centrica is set to reveal lower profits this week after having been under pressure from politicians desperate to stay in power to lower its prices.
Money losing disaster RBS is on track to do what it does best and lose another £5bn as it bows to the US authorities over its alleged role in the sub prime meltdown a decade ago, according to the Sunday Times. It is almost as if the bank was saved in order to cost the UK taxpayer as much as possible.
It is reported in the Sunday Telegraph that the Intercontinental Exchange, which operates Libor, has other ideas regarding the latest FCA move to close this benchmark down – largely because it failed to find a way of regulate it. It is usually the case that UK authorities roll over to US corporates and so we could be due an embarrassing U turn at some point soon.
The Sunday Telegraph offers us an emperor’s new clothes moment in the wake of the AstraZeneca drugs trial failure. It is that many of the big claims for new drugs have simply not materialized in terms of taking us to the next level of treatment. Perhaps some of them were all just hype to raise funding and share prices?
