Yahoo Finance Trending tickers: Barclays | Shell | Centrica | Anglo American
Barclays (BARC.L)
Banking giant Barclays (BARC.L) posted a first-half profit that was in line with expectations on Thursday, coming in at £4.6bn ($5.95bn). The average analyst forecast came in at £4.5bn.
In the same quarter a year ago pre-tax profits were sitting at £3.7bn.
It announced a share buyback of £750m for Q2 – a number which beat analyst expectations of £575m.
Its consumer and credit card business propped up numbers as it battles with dipping revenues in its investment bank during a down period for corporate dealmaking.
Personal Banking income increased 19% to £2.5bn, driven by higher interest rates, partially offset by factors it called "mortgage margin compression and lower current accounts deposit volumes in line with wider market trends and cost of living pressures."
Shell (SHEL.L)
Energy giant Shell (SHEL.L) has felt the sharp end of falling energy prices in the first half of 2023, as its second quarter profits fell 56% to $5bn (£3.86bn). This missed analysts expectations.
It announced a $3bn share buyback programme – a decrease from its $3.6bn programme in the previous quarter. It increased its quarterly dividend by 15% to $0.331 per share.
It explained that adjusted earnings are lower than in Q1 2023 due to "lower prices and trading & optimisation results."
Read more: What are share repurchases?
Results reflect waning oil and gas prices, lower refining margins and lower sales volumes compared with Q1.
British Gas parent Centrica (CNA.L)
British Gas's parent company Centrica (CNA.L) revealed its profits had soared almost 900% on Thursday for the first half of the year in its UK household supply arm, after a cold and expensive winter for many UK residents.
Underlying earnings at British Gas rose to £969m compared with £98m a year earlier, according to the report.
Read more: British Gas owner Centrica reveals profits soaring more than 900%
Centrica said the growth came down to the fact it had reduced debt-related costs, as opposed to it reaping a huge windfall from high energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
As such, the profit boom appears partly due to adjustments in Ofgem's price cap on energy which allows the supplier to call in some of the costs of supplying customers during the energy crisis. Profits were overall up by £4.7bn but without adjustments, it made profit of £2.1bn.
Anglo American (AAL.L)
Anglo American was among mining giants announcing slimmed down dividends on Thursday as weakening commodity prices weighed on its top line.
Its first half saw underlying EBITDA fall to $5.1bn. That was down from $8.7bn a year earlier and below the $5.3bn expected on average by eight analysts polled by research firm Vuma.
Read more: Shell's $3bn share buyback and dividend hike despite profit slump
"We have been a bit surprised by how slow the reopening of China has been and the lack of stimulus that everybody expected. The good news is the politburo in the last couple of days has indicated quite strongly that it will take some action," said CEO Duncan Wanblad.
The stock price was unfased, heading higher by late-morning trade in London.
Watch: British Gas owner Centrica sees supply arm profits soar on price cap boost
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