NatWest operating profit rises, TBC Bank income improves

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 46 points higher on Friday, having closed up 0.38% on Thursday at 7,597.53.

Stocks to watch

NatWest Bank reported a 20% rise in operating profit and confirmed Paul Thwaite as chief executive on a permanent basis. The bank on Friday said 2023 operating profit came in at £6.1bn. Total income rose to £14.7bn, up from £13.1bn a year earlier. Thwaites had been given a one-year contract last July after the departure of his predecessor Alison Rose, who resigned after she broke client confidentiality in relation to the closure of hard-right political activist Nigel Farage account with NatWest's Coutts banking unit.

TBC Bank Group reported significant increases in net interest income, of 26.8%, and net fee and commission income, of 27.8%, in its full-year results on Friday, leading to total operating income of GEL 2.37bn (£0.71bn), up 14.6%. Despite a 36% increase in its total credit loss allowance and a 24.2% rise in operating expenses, the bank still achieved a profit before tax of GEL 1.33bn, up 7%. After a 20.3% fall in income tax expenses, the bank reported a profit for the period of GEL 1.14bn, up 13.6% year-on-year.

Newspaper round-up

Housebuilding in London is “grinding to a halt”, housing associations have warned the government, with the number of affordable homes being built plummeting by three-quarters in the last 12 months. In a letter to the housing secretary, Michael Gove, the G15, which represents the capital’s 11 largest housing associations, said his policies did not go far enough to increase supply and called for an injection of billions of pounds into an affordable homes building programme. – Guardian

The Independent is in talks to take control of BuzzFeed and HuffPost in the UK and Ireland, as part of a “strategic partnership” that aims to boost the fortunes of two strikingly different players in the UK media landscape. BuzzFeed UK was once looked upon with envy by legacy publishers who coveted its reach with younger audiences, but its star has faded after huge losses at its parent company. Free online news publishers are facing a torrid financial time as social networks such as Facebook are no longer sending as many readers, while advertisers are cutting spending. – Guardian

BT has been accused of failing to invest enough money into the UK’s full-fibre broadband network by the boss of a rival telecoms company. Rajiv Datta, chief executive of Nexfibre, which is building its own full-fibre network, accused BT of behaving like a “typical monopoly” by failing to invest quickly enough in the next generation of broadband technology. He said: “When you have somebody that has the dominant market share and has had the benefits of being the incumbent all these years, not investing in that core infrastructure is a typical behaviour of a monopoly.” – Telegraph

Deutsche Bank has become the latest big company to crackdown on working from home, ordering managers back to the office four days a week. The German investment bank, which employs around 6,000 people in London, has told staff they will need to be in the office at least two-thirds of the time. More senior employees will need to be in four days a week. – Telegraph

Global investors turned their backs on so-called ethical funds last year, withdrawing more than $10 billion amid claims of greenwashing. Between 2020 and 2022, investors set aside six times more capital for funds claiming to support companies with high ethical, social and governance (ESG) standards than for traditional equities. But the tide turned on the sector last year, according to data from Calastone. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Thursday as major indices tried to get their recent rally back on track.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.91% at 38,773.12, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.58% to 5,029.73 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.30% firmer at 15,906.17.

The Dow closed 348.85 points higher on Thursday, building on gains recorded in the previous session.

Economic data was again the session's primary focus, with the New York Fed's Empire State manufacturing index surging to -2.4 in February from -43.7 in January, well and truly beating market forecasts for a reading of -15.

On another note, factory sector activity in the mid-Atlantic region improved significantly in February, the results of a closely followed survey revealed.