Standard Life Shares

StevieJ

Another nice rise, how far will it go ?

sabretoothtigger

Im suprised to see it at this price, it usually just falls back. Lovely what a few big names will do like Goldman and Barclays, etc Not heard a proper reason otherwise


Obviously its acting strongly but heres some numbers for stop loss should you trade this way.

sabretoothtigger

BArclays appears to be continuing with its strategy of acquiring rivals non-core units, with Standard Life's banking operations on the radar in a deal that could be worth between 200-300 million pounds.

Broker tips: Insurers, Misys, Dominos Pizza

The life assurance sector has recovered strongly from its first quarter lows but there is still plenty of juice left in the major players, Panmure Gordon reckons.

The broker has increased its target prices for five insurers: Prudential (to 732p from 585p), Standard Life (234p from 212p), St. James’s Place (315p from 215p), Aviva (526p from 435p) and Legal & General (99p from 85p).

All of the above bar Standard Life have ‘buy’ recommendations from the broker; Standard Life is rated a ‘hold’.

‘Given the dramatic fall in 2008, Q1 2009 was largely based on fears of asset Armageddon, and we believe that the recovery along with the reintroduction of previously abandoned valuation methodologies will continue to drive share prices,’ said Panmure Gordon analyst Barrie Cornes.

Persistent talk that Resolution is circling L&G had the insurer higher again in early deals, while yesterday’s upgrade by Deutsche Bank helped.

The broker also thinks Aviva is undervalued. The insurer confirmed today it has completed the reattribution of the ‘inherited estate’ in its CGNU and CULAC with-profit funds worth £470m to policyholders. It has also completed the A$925m (£452m) sale of its Australian life and pensions business and wealth management platform, Aviva Australia Holdings, to National Australia Bank.

Australian bank tipped as L&G predator
Telegraph | 01-Oct-2009






Just some general world views for you



http://www.dofonline.co.uk/economy/ftse-barclays-standard-life-up-on-deal-news-090929.html

Standard Life could sell bank to Barclays for up to £300m

INSURANCE giant Standard Life is in advanced talks to sell off its bank subsidiary to a major UK clearing bank. Standard Life Bank, which earlier this year was merged into its financial services division, could raise between £200 million to £300m, with Barclays Bank considered a lead contender to buy it.
Anne Gunther, the former chief executive of the bank, left in February of this year, re-igniting rumours the bank was ripe for sell off. Management of the division, which has savings and mortgages worth £14.3 billion, has since been overseen by Standard Life head of customer management John Gill. The sell-off would be a sop to Standard Life investors who have questioned the merits of running a bank as part of its operations since the group floated in the stock exchange in 2006
The sell-off is being driven by finance director David Nish, who is considered a forerunner in the race to be the next chief executive of the group, replacing Sir Sandy Crombie. An announcement on the chief executive's role is due in the next few weeks.

An industry insider said: "Getting shot of it (the bank] makes it a cleaner, stronger group which is more focused on where it wants to be. It is a move that Nish would want to inspire and would be seen as a strong move in the City as well."

The bank employs 300 staff in Edinburgh. In May, the insurance group said it aimed to cut £75m from its costs by 2010.

The latest reported figures showed savings at the bank were up to £5.5bn, with £1.8bn of this attributed to funds in the insurer's SIPP and wrap investment and pension products.

Recently the insurance group had all but stopped the bank's mortgage-lending business. In the first six months of the year new mortgages had been slashed by 80 per cent. In the first half of the year its mortgage book stood at £8.8bn, down from £9.7bn at the end of 2008 with only £143m of mortgages written in 2009.

A "big four" accountancy firm, reported to be PricewaterhouseCoopers, is undertaking diligence on the value of its assets.

The bank was founded in 1998, a pioneer of telephone banking, offering personal and business savings products at high interest rates, dubbed loss leaders by critics. In January 1999, the firm entered the UK mortgage market.

The bank was the brainchild of former Standard Life managing director Scott Bell. It was launched by Jim Spowart who had previously been involved in the establishment of the Royal Bank of Scotland's telephone insurance business, Direct Line.

In its early days, the insurer had ambitions to take on high street rivals like RBS and HBOS. In 2006, the bank hit its apogee, contributing its first £40m dividend to the group after it had implemented a focus on "higher margin business."

In 2007, underlying pre-tax profits had slid 16 per cent to £32m which led to initial claims the insurance group no longer considered it core to the business and that it should be sold.
Before he left the insurance group to run rival Friends Provident, former director Trevor Matthews had overseen the creation of its financial services division, which included the bank, in order to include mortgages in its wrap investment platform.

A spokesman for Standard Life declined to comment.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/business/Standard-Life-could-sell-bank.5682559.jp

sabretoothtigger

Sl appears to have support above 220 if we can close above its a reason to hold still, seems good to me
This picture appears on longer term looks also

sabretoothtigger

Just a chart for today, sl is acting ok. 230 was my target from the start of the year and its been filled pretty much now so its a guess if it will exceed fair value or not, could do as the yield is still good. No reason to sell for me anyhow, I already sold too much

Look to the market and sector


Sharecrazy says its above vwap I think which means strength. I just see it shot up to 227 again, nice

VWAP (all trades)225.0596VWAP (auto trades)224.9911

http://www.sharecrazy.com/share2607share/share.php?disp=share&epic=SL.






The next fortnight is when you can opt to take the dividend in shares costing 187p

Obviously with the shareprice at 228p, thats 40p profit per share or per £1.87 of your interim dividend payable for only a small risk at the moment.
So not next week but the week after be ready to send off your form to get this little bonus or start asking SL for the form now if you dont know what I mean




Another fact in favour of SL is appreciation in the Canadian dollar, since it went ex div 12th Aug SL has risen 17%, the ftse 10% and the CAD $ is up 6% which means revenue rises back in pounds even if sales stay flat.

I think Canada accounts for 15 to 25% of overall profits, SL is so old, this is a remnant of the british empire for them
This is a 24 yr high for the Canadian dollar vs the british pound, they have gold and we dont so I guess this is not a freak occurrence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3eyCBWOQ4U&feature=sub

sabretoothtigger

STANDARD LIFE CLOSES IN ON A NEW CHIEF Standard Life (LSE: SL.L - news) is expected to announce within the next fortnight the results of its search for a successor to outgoing chief executive Sir Sandy Crombie. The hunt has been under way since Crombie announced his decision to step down in March, with board members Keith Skeoch and David Nish among the frontrunners. Operating profits for the first half of 2009 fell by 86 per cent at Standard Life even though it increased its dividend by two per cent with surplus capital of 3.3 billion pounds

The shares have risen with the market today to reach a new high for this year

sabretoothtigger

Posting a bit more often now as the share is at fair value it seems to me, till we hear of any improvement to earnings or prospects. Also watch Canadian dollar appreciation as that is a future positive to reported earnings from that division, trading statement end of this month



Sector watch to see whose in favour today, I think it might be realtime
http://www.investorresearch.mdgms.com/sector/sectors.html





This chart just shows that since SL floated, 240 is the mostly highly traded price for these shares, sold and bought. Its relevance right now is that it forms a ceiling to the price, we are unlikely to go higher but if we do then rises could be significant like last december

The perils of cheap money



Here’s a little nugget from Germany. The regulator BaFin has woken up to the danger that near-zero interest rates are a major danger for the Germany’s €700bn life insurance industry. They may not be able to meet their premiums. If deflation takes hold, they risk going the way of all those life insurers that went bust in Japan during the 1990s.


BaFin thought it had covered every possible shock – a share price crash, a debt crisis, etc – but nobody ever paid much attention to the long-term actuarial shock of low rates.


FT Deutschland said BaFin has carried out a stress test of the industry based on interest rates remaining “very low” until 2018 – which in my opinion more likely than the markets seem to think. It found that insurers need an average of 3.4pc in interest yield to cover guarantees over the next twelve years.
That is not going to be easy. The yield on 10-year Bunds today is 3.23pc. Whoops.


Unless rates start rising soon, BaFin may have to cancel or cut the guarantees issued to customers. This would be a minor earthquake in Germany. The country’s life-insurers have 80pc of their funds in bonds and other fixed income securities.


The German Insurance Association said the BaFin test was an “extreme scenario” and very unlikely to happen.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100001361/the-perils-of-cheap-money/

sabretoothtigger

10:38 - Standard Life's (SL-) finance director David Nish has been appointed as the successor to Sir Sandy Crombie who is standing down at the end of this year.

Nish will be paid a basic salary of £700,000 with cash and share bonuses worth up to £2.625 million.


However, Standard Life executives have had a tough time meeting their targets in recent years - Sir Sandy's total pay and bonus dropped from £1.64 million to £1.39 million last year and Nish saw his total compensation drop from £945,000 to £885,000 after failing to hit key profitability targets.


Standard Life's shares were flat at 230.4p.

sabretoothtigger

SL has results next Thurs, 26th is last day to elect scrip dividend shares at 186p.

[SIZE=-2]Sunday October 25, 02:20 PM[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]UPDATE 1-Standard Life not planning Canadian sale -source

[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - British insurer Standard Life (LSE: SL.L - news) is not looking at selling off its underperforming Canadian business, according to a source, despite a newspaper report saying that it had asked its advisors to review the unit.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]'It is not the case that Standard Life is looking at selling its Canadian business,' a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Sunday.It follows a report in the Independent on Sunday newspaper suggesting that the company has asked its advisors to review the business with a view to selling it off.A spokesperson for Standard Life refused to comment on whether the Canadian business was being put up for sale.However outgoing Chief Executive Sandy Crombie told Reuters in August that the company had no plans to sell the Canadian operation.
(Reporting by Ben Deighton; Editing by Mike Nesbit) Keywords: STAN LIFE/SALE[/SIZE]

Possible cash sale is a positive?

Independent on Sunday STANDARD LIFE LOOKS TO SELL ITS CANADIAN INSURANCE BUSINESS Standard Life (LSE: SL.L - news) has reportedly asked its advisers to review the insurer's Canadian business with a view to a possible sale.

'Everyone needs some firepower in this market and Standard Life, which frankly looks a little vulnerable, could get it with a sale. But it's early days,' said a source.

It is also likely that Standard Life Bank could be sold to Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) for as much as 300 million pounds.

Although Standard Life's Canadian business posted a 102 million pound loss last year, based on IFRS accounting standards, the group has since improved.

Oriel Securities analyst Marcus Barnard believes the business will post underlying profits of 70 million pounds in 2010, based on the same standards.

This graph shows ratio of SL to FTSE and the sector in general. Ive pointed to the last time we held similar values, Aug 08






Citigroup says telecoms and insurance are underrated income shares

http://www.livemint.com/2009/10/21221432/Free-up-insurers-to-help-infra.html

sabretoothtigger

This sale is no big news I guess but they give out some interesting info on the two companies.

Any bets of the quarterly results upcoming, good or bad ? or will the shares not react either way

This RNS alert is brought to you by Digital Look. RNS Number : 3794B
Barclays PLC
26 October 2009






Barclays to acquire Standard Life Bank


Barclays Bank PLC ("Barclays") has agreed to acquire Standard Life Bank Plc ("Standard Life Bank") from Standard Life Plc ("Standard Life") for a consideration of £226m, payable in cash upon completion.

Under the terms of the transaction, Barclays will acquire a savings book of approximately £5.5bn, as at 30 June 2009, and a mortgage book with outstanding balances of approximately £8.8bn, as at 30 June 2009, with an average indexed loan to value ratio of 48% at that date. On completion, approximately 270 Standard Life employees will transfer to Barclays.

Standard Life Bank reported IFRS underlying profit before tax of £26m for the year ended 31 December 2008 and £15m for the half-year ended 30 June 2009. Standard Life has confirmed to Barclays that Standard Life Bank has traded well since 30 June 2009.

The price is based on an estimated tangible net book value of £293m and is subject to adjustment based on changes to Standard Life Bank's tangible net book value at completion. Completion is subject, amongst other things, to regulatory approval and is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2010.

Separately, Barclays UK Retail Banking and Standard Life have also agreed heads of terms to enter into a strategic agreement to explore joint opportunities in the UK retail long-term savings and investments sector. The initial focus is expected to be on the development of a multi-channel, simplified pension product.

Frits Seegers, Chief Executive of Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Banking, said: "The acquisition of Standard Life Bank is a good fit with Barclays existing UK retail banking business. This transaction brings to Barclays high-quality savings and mortgage books, and an attractive customer base. We also look forward to working together with Standard Life in the long-term savings and investments sector. We believe that we will be able to drive significant value for customers and shareholders - both through this acquisition and through the strategic initiative."





As at 30 June 2009, Barclays UK Retail Banking had approximately 13.0m savings accounts and total customer deposit balances of £88.5bn.


As at 30 June 2009, Standard Life Bank had approximately 287,000 savings accounts and total customer deposit balances of £5.5bn.


As at 30 June 2009, Barclays UK Retail Banking had approximately 824,000 mortgage accounts and a total mortgage book of £84.4bn. The average loan to value ratio of the mortgage book on a current valuation basis was 44%, and the average loan to value ratio of new mortgage lending was 46%. For the six months to 30 June 2009, net new mortgage lending was £2.2bn in a market of £1.1bn. Three-month arrears were 1.16%.


As at 30 June 2009, Standard Life Bank had approximately 78,000 mortgage accounts and a total mortgage book of £8.8bn. The average indexed loan to value of the mortgage book was 48%. Three-month arrears were 0.68%.




About Barclays


Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services, with an extensive international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 145,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for over 49 million customers and clients worldwide. For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.barclays.com.




About Standard Life


Standard Life is a major asset managing company headquartered in Edinburgh and operating across the globe. Established in 1825, Standard Life provides life assurance and pensions, investment management, banking and healthcare insurance products to over 6.5 million customers worldwide. The Group has around 10,000 employees across the UK, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Austria, India, USA, Hong Kong and mainland China. At the end of June 2009 the Group had total assets under administration of £156.5bn.