All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
NAB kicks off Clydesdale, Yorkshire strategic review
National Australia Banks (NAB) enthusiasm for retaining its UK-based Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank brands is once again in doubt. NAB has commenced a strategic review, and will work with UK management to appropriately reposition its business mix and structure for the changed economic environment and improve returns.
ABSA launches Transact to target unbanked
ABSA is to ramp up its efforts to target the unbanked segment of the South African market with the launch of the Transact account. ABSA said that the Transact product will feature no penalty fees, charges for point of sale till transactions and no charges for balance enquiries or airtime top ups.
Santander’s FY11 profit down by 35%
Santander has posted net income of 5.35bn for the 12 months to 31 December, down 34.6% from the previous year. In the fourth quarter, net income collapsed to 47m from 2.1bn in the same period a year ago. Group wide, total assets increased by 2.8% to 1.25trn in fiscal 2011. Notable highlights included: Net income at Santanders US-based retail unit, Sovereign, increased by 24% to 526m.
758 US lenders at risk
Following a stress test of all FDIC-insured banks, at least 758 US-lenders around one in ten of the countrys banks – are at risk of failure over the next two years, according to a report from Invictus Consulting Group. Based on publicly available data on banks for the third quarter ended 30 September, , Invictus said that without corrective action to raise capital or merge, the 758 banks are unlikely to remain viable. This is primarily due to the weak recovery, which could trigger a new wave of loan defaults. Approximately 200 of these banks are subsidiaries of publicly-traded bank holding companies. The 758 banks have total assets of around $440bn , or roughly $580m on average.
US M&A activity slips back in 2011
US banking sector merger and acquisition activity slipped back in 2011 from 2010 levels according to data from SNL Financial. In 2011, 173 bank and thrift transactions were announced, down from 215 deals in 2010 Despite fewer deals, the aggregate value of deals in 2011 rose by over one-third, to $17.01bn from $12.32 billion in 2010.
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Perfect partnership for RBC
Royal Bank of Canada has kicked off the new year by announcing one of the most significant retailer partnership deals for many a month, partnering with Shoppers Mart. Head of Canadian banking at RBC, Dave McKay, tells Douglas Blakey that the deal with Shoppers represents a marriage made in heaven. Canadas largest retail lender, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has teamed up with the countrys largest retail drug store group, Shoppers Drug Mart, to offer its debit cardholders more ways to earn points via a new co-branded debit card.RBC and Shoppers will launch the RBC Shoppers Optimum card on 17 March.The multi-year deal has been in the planning for two years and represents an eight-figure marketing investment from RBC to bring to market. Cardholders will earn double Optimum points every time they make a purchase at a Shoppers Drug Mart store (Pharmaprix in Quebec) and also earn points on purchases made at other retailers.
QNB closing in on deal for DenizBank
Qatar National Bank (QNB) is reportedly closing in on a deal to acquire Dexias Turkey-based retail banking unit, Denizbank. QNB chairman told local media in the Gulf that he hoped to complete a deal if the price is right. DenizBank operates a branch network of 540 outlets in Turkey serving 4.6m customers.
In a good place
The growing importance of South Asia to Standard Chartered Standard Charteredwas marked by its high profile hire in June last year of Sanjeeb Chaudhuri. As he tells Douglas Blakey, he has taken up three major roles within StanChart: regional head South Asia, global head of marketing and country head, IndiaIt was, says Sanjeeb Chaudhuri, a very good time to move back to Asia. After working in Europe for 14 years, Chaudhuri joined Standard Chartered (StanChart) from Citigroup (Citi) last year in one of the most significant retail banking hires of 2011. At Citigroup, Chaudhuri served as CEO, retail and commercial banking, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Citibank, in addition to holding the role of head, retail banking and chief marketing officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was also a member of the Citi CEO Leadership Forum, the Citi Global Digital Council and the Citi Global Advertising Council.
India presents first-half challenge
After enjoying strong growth over many years, the first half of the current fiscal year was especially challenging for Standard Chartered (StanChart) in India, but there are a number of mitigating factors. The Reserve Bank of India increased rates 11 times in 17 months to allay inflationary concerns; local competition heightened margin pressure; product-specific rule changes negatively impacted earnings. Despite the competitive landscape, StanChart continued to invest. An increase in costs of 13% in the first half partly reflected the banks ongoing investments in Express Banking centres and online distribution in retail banking.Operating profit within the Indian retail unit in the first half fell by 17% to $44m.
Capitec debuts new store concept
South Africa-based Capitec has announced one of the most significant branch refurbishment and expansion plans of the past year. It will open another 200 branches and refurbish its existing 500 outlets, all based on an innovative retail store concept in partnership with international retail designer allen international. Douglas Blakey reports. Since setting up shop in 2001, Capitec has blazed a trail in South Africa attracting business from the unbanked segment as well as winning market share from the established Big Four retail banks which dominate the market: ABSA, First Rand, Standard Bank and Nedbank. Competitive pricing Nedbank has prided itself on a low fee structure and efficient no-nonsense branch customer service have helped to establish Capitec as a major player in South Africa.Its customer based has grown to 3.5m and on 26 January opened its 500th branch, in the Morning Glen Mall, Sandton, north of Johannesburg. The new branch represents a key point in Capitecs ambitious growth plans: the first outlet to showcase the banks new store concept, developed in partnership with the leading UK-headquartered retail designer allen International.