STANDARD BANK RECOMMENDATION
Standard Bank shareholders shrug off gloomy outlook
The stock is up about 4% since 'sell'note was sent, mostly to portfolio managers, in line with the gain in the banks index
Standard Bank shareholders have shrugged off a "sell" recommendation on the stock by the group’s stockbroking subsidiary, which has lowered earnings forecasts for the bank over the next three years. Vincent Anthonyrajah, a research analyst at Standard Bank Group Securities, said in a note on March 9 that Standard Bank was a "sell" at R160 — roughly the level at which the share is trading. The stock is up about 4% since the note was sent, mostly to portfolio managers, in line with the gain in the banks index. This could be because Anthonyrajah has rated the stock a "sell" since August 2016 and is generally bearish on banking shares: he has "sell" recommendations on Nedbank and Capitec and "hold" recommendations on Barclays and FirstRand. Still, his outlook for Standard Bank – particularly its domestic personal and business banking (PBB) franchise — is gloomy. He flagged an 11% increase in the unit’s costs over 6% growth in noninterest revenue, pointing to the loss of credit card and ...
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