Standard Life Shares

Buddy195

StevieJ wrote: »

Glad I flogged Aviva and Lgen last Friday (still hold SL):beer:

Wish they'd go above the 220 mark. Seem to be getting to almost £2 then drop back 20p? Very bizarre :rolleyes:

sabretoothtigger

The Ftse is still below January highs so the current price doesnt seem totally wrong.

Lets pretend the ftse is going back to 4600 and the target price at that level of optimism is 230 for SL

If you calculate it to scale for 4100 Ftse then the target is 200 and thats not far off what it is
(I think this estimate or view has held since Jan pretty much)

We could probably stick that into chart form and see how highly rated SL is compared to the market but I think it would show similar.
We need a game changer, some reason why SL would outperform and I cant see anything like that occurring. Hopefully we'll have no bad news either

220 would be nice but it'd be surprising without anything new



Stuff about the scrip dividend, you have to send in a form. I guess these could be sent to whichever broker you have in the hope they'll forward it on

Would hope that the company (or their registrars would get the date right on something like that in an RNS!

But interestingly the terms and conditions on their own website talk about
Scrip dividend forms needing to be in by midnight (UK time)
on the date which is 15 working days before a dividend payment date

http://www.standardlife.com/static/docs/uk_scrip_09.pdf

If dividend payment date is 29 May 2009 that would suggest the 7th to me (unless SL take weekends as working days). Maybe that should have been calendar days. One to embarrass the highly paid lawyers at the AGM with.

Fizzin, if your shares are in a nominee account, you should check with your broker. They might have an earlier date to give themselves time to deal with it.

If you are a participant in the DRIP, there´s a resolution at the AGM to allow participants to be treated as having elected to participate in the Scrip without having to sign any more forms. Assuming that´s passed - and can´t think of any reason why it shouldn´t be, SL say you won´t have to do anything.

http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=discussion&code=cotn%3ASL-.L&threshold=0&it=le&action=detail&id=4723003



http://www.standardlife.com/shareholders/scrip_dividend_scheme.html

sabretoothtigger

SL fell a bit as the sector and market rose today, if only their bank were bigger they'd have done great recently
They took part in the governments bad debt insurance scheme apparently

From Wall Street Journal:

Standard Life said Thursday that worldwide life and pensions sales in the three months ended March 31 were 20% lower at GBP3.6bn compared with GBP4.5bn. Above analysts expectations of 3.36 billion pounds

U.K. life and pensions sales fell by 27% and U.K. life and pensions sales, excluding lower margin bulk investment bond deals, were down by 17%.

Net flows reflect the decision not to renew lower margin bulk investment bond deals, Standard Life said.

The estimated FGD surplus at March 31 was GBP3.2bn after the payment of the final dividend (Dec. 31, 2008: GBP3.3bn) and has remained largely insensitive to volatile markets, the company said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090430-702110.htm

"Our sales have been affected by a number of one-off factors including our decision not to renew bulk investment bond deals and the revaluation of the Pension Sterling Fund", Crombie said.

The prompt actions, including contributing capital to the fund, coupled with the strength of distribution relationships, have seen new business flows recover quickly, the CEO said.

"Although we see the challenging market conditions continuing, our strengths remain unchanged. We continue to focus on our capital strength, innovative and capital-lite propositions and the opportunities that come from our strong distribution relationships and excellence in customer service", he added.

The company said it expects conditions in 2009 to remain challenging across all markets.

It is well positioned to build on, and respond to, opportunities in a number of key markets.

In the U.K. Standard Life has a strong pipeline within Group Pensions and at Standard Life Investments; it continues to attract new customers into the SIPP proposition and see considerable demand from IFAs to join Wrap platform.

The Canadian and Asian businesses continue to perform well in spite of the tough economic environment, the company said.

Confidence in being able to capitalise on these opportunities is underpinned by a robust capital position, which has been largely insensitive to market movements, the company added.

sabretoothtigger

Standard Life new business sales fall 20%

By Adam Jones
Published: April 30 2009 08:49 | Last updated: April 30 2009 08:49

An attempt to woo two distributors in 2008 came back to haunt Standard Life on Thursday, as it unveiled a 20 per cent fall in life and pensions new business sales for the first quarter of 2009.
The insurer had issued an investment bond in the first quarter of last year that, although attractive to savers, was not very profitable. The bond was sold in bulk through two unnamed UK distributors that Standard Life wanted to cultivate.
EDITOR’S CHOICE

Standard Life statement - Apr-30


Friends Provident in tie-up with Tesco - Apr-28


Insurers take road to the aisles - Apr-28


Aviva shares jump 5% on capital strength - Apr-27




The decision not to renew that low-margin business was one of the big reasons that its life and pensions new business sales — a measure that reflects initial and future payments on newly-signed contracts — fell from £4.5bn in the first quarter of 2008 to £3.6bn in the first quarter of this year.
David Nish, finance director, said the decline also reflected the equity bear market, which eroded asset management fees and the value of pensions being transferred into the group.
The new business weakness was also partly the result of the uncertainty that temporarily surrounded a supposedly-safe cash fund that required a £100m top-up after it fell in value.
Standard Life said market conditions would continue to be challenging. Mr Nish said the state of financial markets would continue to shape its performance, but added that there had been good sales activity in the first three weeks of April.
The solvency of insurers is being watched closely amid the current market volatility. Standard Life’s capital buffer at March 31 remained relatively steady at £3.2bn, down from £3.3bn at the end of 2008.
Standard Life shares rose 1p to 193.7p in early trading.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/96b1cb44-3556-11de-a997-00144feabdc0.html

Friends Provident in tie-up with Tesco

By Brooke Masters
Published: April 28 2009 08:49 | Last updated: April 28 2009 08:49

Friends Provident has announced a new exclusive distribution deal with Tesco, but the life assurer also revealed that first-quarter new business sales fell well short of analysts’ expectations.
New business sales dropped 40 per cent year-on-year from £247m last year to £148m in the quarter to March 31. Analysts had expected sales of £205m.

Worldwide sales were about 6 per cent ahead of market forecast.

If only they had more foreign business to grow but this share is mostly uk with some foreign business acting as a hedge

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business/Blow-to-Standard-Life-sales.5225378.jp

http://business.scotsman.com/newsfront.aspx?sectionid=7935&IsTopic=1




http://www.theherald.co.uk/business/news/display.var.2505346.0.Standard_Life_upbeat_despite_fall_in_firstquarter_sales.php

Yorkshireman_3

Buddy195 wrote: »

Wish they'd go above the 220 mark. Seem to be getting to almost £2 then drop back 20p? Very bizarre :rolleyes:

Hold tight soon be there again :beer:

sabretoothtigger

Dam so close but still no close above 200 and breaching this is like reaching a summit I think, not so great if when climbing we can only reach 95% of the way up a cliff.


Volume is low? The majority of trading seems to be around 190. Im unsure just how low daily trading figures are but it looks to be trailing off, I'll stick a chart at the bottom to stare at







Telegraph said their trading statement was above market expectations but it doesnt show in the price and the rest of the sector has done far better






Each bar on this chart is a daily price since the start of the year

sabretoothtigger

29-Apr-09 Panmure Gordon Buy Target - 192.70p previously 295.00p
- Reiteration

Panmure brokers, the most optimistic valuers of SL give it a target of £2 now which seems to match reality though we did get to 205 during the day it quickly fell back

Seems they are lagging behind recently, overall they have done better then most but their previous premium valuation has faded away with this rally.

I think within their sector at least they are a decent hold as the canada business is a strong(er) currency and economy and should be some hedge against uk revenues falling and also some asian interests though it might be tiny still

sabretoothtigger

Life insurance as a sector may have some problems, but the Independent says that that Prudential is leaving the others in its wake. The fact that sales are down in some key markets is a worry, and while it is not sure the shares will meet broker targets of 850p any time soon, they are undervalued. Buy.

Their 436 today, the sector in general was sunny yesterday

Street Rides Insurers Wake


Instead of banks like Citigroup ( C -news - people ) and Bank of America ( BAC - news - people ) leading the charge as they normally do, the sector was driven by insurers like Genworth Financial ( GNW -news - people ), which jumped 20.2%, or 84 cents, to $4.99, and Hartford Financial ( HIG - news - people ), which rose 17.4%, or $2.19, to $14.75.
Even American International Group ( AIG - news - people ) rose 15.0%, or 24 cents, to $1.84. All told the SPDR KBW Insurance ( KIE - news - people ) ETF upped 5.1%, or $1.28, to $26.50.

rhyme or reason

http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/14/briefing-americas-afternoon-markets-equity-financial.html?partner=yahootix





Correlates to the uk, so its good news for sl I guess

Resolution 9 (Special Resolution): [passed]

To give authority for the Company to buy back up to 10% of its issued ordinary shares

Share buyback oOo

Unfortunately the shareprice right now is only 4 pence above the scrip dividend I think, not sure when they are issued exactly but cash is end of this month

sabretoothtigger

Where is SL in 2 years? This is a link to a new google type website for maths geeks, type any question you like









http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=standard+life



Prudential vs Standard Life
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Standard+Life+prudential&a=*DPClash.FinancialE.prudential-_*L%3APRU-





http://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/MoneyAndFinance.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_walk

Standard Life also owns and operates over 11,000,000 square feet (1,000,000 m2) of office, retail and industrial space through its Real Estate division.

sabretoothtigger

STANDARD Life plans to open a base in Guangdong, the most prosperous province in China, following a sharp increase in sales in the country.

It is expanding in the region through Heng An Standard Life (HASL), its joint venture with TEDA Investment Holding Company. Alan Armitage, chief executive of Standard Life's Asian activities, who operates out of Hong Kong, plans to tap into a market of 110 million residents and migrant workers.

He said: "We expect final authority and a licence to operate any day now. Guangdong is key strategically, especially due to its southern proximity with the Hong Kong side of our business and offering such an important customer target base.

"A number of distributors we already use on the island (Hong Kong] are moving onto the mainland and so we plan a cross-fertilisation of effort to significantly build on our sales figures."

He reported that since it launched HASL Standard Life has seen sales rise from an initial £7 million in 2005 to £109m in 2008 from a 300,000 customer base.

A year ago HASL launched China's first group pension plan for small to medium-sized companies that attracts tax relief, and aimed at spreading into new markets including Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea.

"The first quarter of this year shows no indications of a let up in our activity and that is despite a global recession," added Armitage, who is in charge of 5,000 employees and sales staff.

A further indication of an acceleration in business is that this time last year the venture employed 3,000 people.

HASL life and pensions teams cover 25 cities in mainland China.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/business/Standard-Life-to-open-base.5274514.jp


Good news, I had hoped they would expand abroad into asia.
Cant remember what percentage this joint venture is, might be less then 50% though



For context

21/05/09 12:30 Analyst & Investor Meeting Investor Day