HSBC, InterContinental Hotels and Anglo American

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“The FTSE100 was in negative territory with HSBC’s profit fall triggering a domino effect in the banking sector with Lloyds, Barclays, RBS and Standard Chartered all down,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“HSBC was the biggest blue-chip faller in early trading after its pre-tax profits fell by 62.3% in 2016. The banking giant is counting the cost of series of one-off charges, including the sale of its operations in Brazil. The fall in profits was steeper than expected but the group made better-than-anticipated progress in reducing its cost base and maintained its dividend. HSBC is also investing over $2bn in digital transformation initiatives. HSBC’s shares were down by more than 6.1%.

InterContinental Hotels Group led the FTSE100 after full-year underlying operating profits rose by 9.5%. The fundamentals for the hospitality industry remain compelling, despite the uncertain environment in some markets and the proposed 11% increase in total dividend reflects the group’s confidence in its long-term sustainable future growth. InterContinental Hotels’ shares were up by over 1.8% in early trading.

Anglo American’s shares were up in early trading after it slashed net debt by 34% to $8.5bn in 2016. This is significantly below the group’s $10bn target and follows wide-ranging operational, cost, capital and portfolio actions to improve cash flows and strengthen the balance sheet. The focus, though, remains on ensuring the balance sheet is able to withstand expected price volatility in the short to medium term. Anglo American’s shares were up by 1.1%.”

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