Dividend cut wipes 6pc off Standard Chartered

ANGRY investors wiped £1.6bn off Standard Chartered’s value after it failed to pay a dividend.

The bank, which has its HQ in London but does nearly all its business in Asia and Africa, made a £1.4bn profit in the first half of 2017 – up 82pc on the same period last year.

But despite bosses hailing it as evidence their turnaround efforts were working, they shocked markets by announcing there would be no payout to shareholders.

The lender scrapped its dividend in 2015 and announced 15,000 jobs would be axed in a drive to save cash. Traders had been hoping that solid growth under chief executive Bill Winters would see it restored, as the American’s efforts have seen its share price rise nearly 37pc in the past 12 months. But defending his decision not to pay shareholders yesterday, Winters said there were too many uncertainties ahead.

‘On our decision not to pay a dividend, I think that was the cautious thing to do given the stage of our own development,’ he said. Standard Chartered was the biggest faller on the FTSE350, dropping 6.1pc, or 51.2p, to 795p.

The FTSE 100 finished 0.16pc lower, down 12.23 points to 7411.43, while the FTSE 250 finished 0.11pc lower, down 22.19 points to 19,841.41.

Figures showed that equity markets performed strongly in the first six months of the year, with the FTSE100 and FTSE250 up 3.5pc and nearly 10pc respectively. Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald said the market has ‘shrugged off the uncertainty caused by the general election and ongoing wrangling around Brexit’.

Power supplier Aggreko has continued to be plagued by its business in Argentina. The company said profits fell to £63m in the six months to the end of June, from £71m a year ago.

Sales however, were 16pc higher at £792m.

Aggreko has battled lower demand for its generators from North American oil and gas customers due to slumping commodity prices, and had to price in a ‘significant’ £34m discount to secure a contract in Argentina.

The move led the firm, which counts Argentina as its largest market, to warn earlier this year that its full-year profits would be lower than a year ago.

Shares yesterday dropped 3pc, or 26p, to 842.5p. Packaging company Smurfit

Kappa also slipped after reporting its profits has been hit by ‘unprecedented’ cost pressures.

The firm posted a 5pc increase in sales in the six months to June to £3.8bn, but profits slipped 21pc to £220m. Shares fell 2pc, or 46p, to 2260p as a result.

A rise in the number of deaths helped boost funeral provider

Dignity. The death toll rose 2pc in the half year from 302,000 to 308,000 – pushing Dignity’s profits up 7pc to £59.5m in the period. Shares rose 0.2pc, or 4p, to 2564p.

The owner of the I and Yorkshire Post newspapers said that it is on track to meet full-year targets after a 14.8pc rise in digital advertising sales helped offset a decline in print.

Johnston Press said losses narrowed from £184m to £10.2m in the half year to July 1, although sales fell 3.1pc to £102.9m. Shares fell 2.3pc, or 0.3p, to 10.62p.

Shares in AIM-listed business services provider Blur jumped 44pc, or 1.38p, to 4.5p after it appointed a new boss.

The company, which lists 60,000 vetted businesses on its online database, has appointed its former chief commercial officer, Laurence Cook, as its new chief executive. Cook replaces company founder Philip Letts and has 25 years’ experience in the information and communication technology industry.