Standard Chartered (STAN) reports full-year figures on Wednesday (5 March) and investors will be hoping for more details about the bank’s reorganisation. That was announced - to much surprise - in January and involves integrating the consumer and wholesale arms into a single business.
According to the bank, the scheme should achieve cost savings by removing the duplication that exists in these two businesses. It’s less clear, however, why Standard has chosen to do this now. The announcement was also accompanied by news that finance director, Richard Meddings, and the head of the lender’s consumer arm, Steve Bertamini, are leaving. Mr Meddings’ departure, in particular, has fuelled rumours about the bank’s capital adequacy. Those concerns, however, aren’t so easy to follow given that the lender boasts a Basel III tier one capital ratio of 10.5 per cent - one of the strongest capital cushions in the sector. Broker Investec Securities, however, does expect 2013's earnings to fall 10 per cent to 179¢ (108p), before recovering to 239¢ in 2015.
