Company news in brief

StanChart H1 profit beats forecastsStandard Chartered PLC exceeded forecasts with a 3% increase in its first-half profit, but flagged trade tensions and a monetary policy easing cycle as potential risks for the London-headquartered lender.Pretax profit for StanChart, which focuses on Asia, Africa and the Middle East, increased to US$2.41 billion in the January-June period from US$2.35 billion in the same period last year, the bank said in a stock exchange filing.The trade war between China and the United States has raised costs, roiled financial markets and has also triggered analyst concerns about its impact on Asia-focused global banks that handle the bulk of the trade finance related businesses.StanChart has been making steady progress in its turnaround strategy, and in a sign of confidence about its prospects of growing revenues the bank in April unveiled plans for an up to US$1 billion share buyback, its first such in at least 20 years.That came after its chief executive Bill Winters unveiled in February ambitious plans to double return on tangible equity and dividends in three years by cutting US$700 million in costs and boosting income. – Nampa/ReutersGlencore feels pain of Africa riskGlencore said on Wednesday it faced a US$350 million hit after cobalt prices halved and has begun an overhaul of its under-performing Africa business, which it will explain next week with output revisions in Democratic Republic of Congo.First-half copper production was 5% lower than last year, while cobalt output rose 28%. Zinc and coal output rose 8% and 10% respectively and nickel dropped 11% versus the same time last year because of maintenance.London-listed Glencore's exposure to risk in Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia has weighed on the company's share price, which has fallen while those of its diversified mining peers have risen.Glencore said it faced a mark-to-market loss on around 10 000 tonnes of cobalt as its marketing business has not yet sold the cobalt it effectively bought from its mining business.The US$350 million EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) cobalt loss is mostly non-cash as the position was funded in 2018, Glencore said. – Nampa/ReutersRio Tinto reports biggest H1 profit since 2014Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto yesterday reported its biggest first-half profit since 2014, in-line with estimates, and declared a bumper dividend, on red-hot iron ore prices.Rio Tinto's underlying earnings for the six months ended June 30 rose to US$4.93 billion from US$4.42 billion a year earlier, the company said.Rio increased its interim dividend by 19% to 151 US cents per share. The world's no.2 miner of iron ore also announced a special dividend of US$1.0 billion.The company's profit growth in the period was held back by lower iron ore sales due to disruptions from a cyclone in late March and operational challenges at a Pilbara hub in the mineral rich region of Western Australia.It also took an US$800 million impairment loss related to Oyu Tolgoi, the miner's massive copper project in Mongolia. – Nampa/ReutersAngloGold Ashanti flags higher H1 earningsSouth Africa's AngloGold Ashanti Ltd said on Wednesday its earnings likely rose as much as 29% in the first half, boosted by income from a legal settlement, gains from its Kibali joint venture and a drop in costs.Headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the six months ended June 30 are expected to come in between 27 US cents and 31 US cents, compared with 24 US cents during the same period a year ago.HEPS, which strips out certain one-off items, is the main profit measure used in South Africa.AngloGold, which said in May it would review divestment options for its Mponeng mine and other South African assets to focus on higher returns elsewhere, said it was pushing ahead with the plan."The process to streamline the AngloGold Ashanti portfolio continues with sales processes ongoing in South Africa, Mali and Argentina," the firm said in a statement. – Nampa/ReutersRyanair has 900 pilots and crew too manyRyanair has 500 more pilots and 400 more cabin crew than needed, and job losses will be announced in the coming weeks, chief executive Michael O'Leary told staff in a video message.The comments come less than two years after Europe's biggest budget airline was forced to cancel hundreds of flights, due in part to a shortage of pilots.However, the Irish company had flagged job losses on Monday when it reported a sharp fall in profits, and said earlier this month it was halving growth plans for next year due to delays in deliveries of Boeing's grounded 737 MAX jet."We hope to preserve as many jobs as we can, but we have to respond now and we have to respond quickly to the MAX aircraft delivery delays and to the threat of a no-deal Brexit at the end of October," O'Leary said in the video posted after Monday's results.He added job cuts would take place at around the end of September and again after Christmas. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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