Three things you need to know in the financial markets today from investment writer, Tony Cross.
#1. NatWest profits jump, dividend up, share buyback underway
As is usual for a high street bank publishing full year results it’s a weighty report from NatWest Group LON:NWG but attributable profits are £4.4bn, up by around a third from a year ago, whilst RoTE is 17.8% which is noted as being above the guided range. Impairment charges were equivalent to 15 basis points which again sits below the previously guided range. A final dividend of 11.5p per share is proposed and the company has also announced a share buyback of up to £300m. Management add that RoTE isn’t expected to be sustained at these levels in the medium term and instead will fall back to low teens.
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#2. Ryanair wins at Italian court of appeal
Ryanair [LON:0RYA] published a statement this morning to say it had won a case in the Milan court of appeal that had been lodged by Online Travel Agencies who had claimed that Ryanair’s distribution model was an abuse of the airline’s dominant position in the country. This has been a long running saga which has hit other markets too and it seems that the outcome will be disproportionately worse for the travel agents, at least in the short term.
#3. Growing Georgian GDP boosts TBC Bank
London-listed TBC Bank Group LON:TBCG, out of Tbilisi, Georgia, has this morning announced Q4 and full year results. Profits for the full year were up by 14%, whilst the Return on Equity printed an impressive 26.5%. The fact that Georgia has been awarded EU candidate status has the potential to add fundamental support going forward, whilst net GDP inflows continue to bolster the country’s GDP growth.
