by admin | May 25, 2021 | Uncategorized
Standard Chartered has reported a drop in profits after it wrote off $1bn (£650m) from the value of its Korean business.
The bank said pre-tax profit fell almost 16% to $3.3bn in the six months to the end of June, compared to $3.9bn for the same period a year ago.
The bank said Korea was its “most difficult market”. Excluding the write-off, profit edged up 4%.
Chairman Sir John Peace said the bank remained “confident for the long term”.
“The external environment will remain challenging for the foreseeable future, but we are in the right markets and have the right strategy in place to deliver growth,” he added.
The London-listed bank, which makes over 90% of its profits in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, said it had seen “excellent performances” from Hong Kong, India and Africa.
In Hong Kong, pre-tax profit was over $1bn for the first time in a six-month period.
The bank, which was fined $667m by US regulators last year for breaching sanctions on Iran and three other countries, said it continued to both review and enhance its compliance controls and processes.
“As a bank with over 88,000 employees in 70 markets, we cannot afford to be complacent,” Mr Peace said.
Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, described the results as a “robust set of numbers”.
“Standard is well positioned to benefit from strong emerging market growth as it arises,” he said.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Uncategorized
Ferrari have revealed that Fernando Alonso has been admonished by the company’s president.
The team said Luca Di Montezemolo phoned the driver on Monday to wish him a happy birthday but also “tweaked his ear” for his “latest comments”.
Ferrari have not revealed which remarks by Alonso, 32, upset Di Montezemolo.
But when he was asked what birthday present he would like after finishing fifth in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Alonso replied: “Someone else’s car.”
A Ferrari statement said Alonso was reminded by Di Montezemolo that “all the great champions who have driven for Ferrari have always been asked to put the interests of the team above their own”.
According to the statement, Di Montezemolo also insisted that “this is the moment to stay calm, avoid polemics and show humility and determination in making one’s own contribution, standing alongside the team and its people both at the track and outside it”.
It also revealed that Di Montezemolo was referring to Alonso when he told a team meeting on Monday that “there is a need to close ranks, without giving in to rash outbursts that, while understandable in the immediate aftermath of a bad result, are no use to anyone”.
It is highly unusual for Ferrari to reveal its internal dealings in such a manner and it emphasises Di Montezemolo’s strength of feeling about the situation.
The statement comes a day after it emerged Alonso’s manager had had a meeting with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner over the Hungarian GP weekend.
Sources say Alonso’s manager, Luis Garcia Abad, told Horner that the Spaniard was potentially available to partner Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull next year and would like the opportunity to do so.
Alonso, who lies third in the drivers’ championship, 39 points behind leader Vettel, insisted after the race that he was “very happy” at Ferrari.
Asked whether his representative had approached Red Bull, Alonso said: “I don’t think so. Not that I know.”
Abad told BBC Sport there had been “no discussions” with Horner.
The Ferrari statement will do little to quell the impression that all is not well between Ferrari and their star driver.
Sources close to Ferrari say the team are not entirely convinced Alonso always gets the best out the car in qualifying, while those close to Alonso say he feels he is constantly having to push to the absolute maximum to make up for an uncompetitive car.
Ferrari’s admission that Di Montezemolo is unhappy with Alonso’s public behaviour came on the same day that the team confirmed the signing of former Lotus technical director James Allison to lead their design department, with Pat Fry moving to a new job as director of engineering.
Allison, who is one of F1’s most highly regarded design engineers, joined Ferrari with the explicit approval of Alonso.
The two worked together at Renault when Alonso won his back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006, when Allison was deputy technical director.
Prior to that, he worked at Ferrari for five years during the early 2000s, when they dominated the sport with Michael Schumacher.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Uncategorized
Lewis Hamilton has not yet reached his ultimate potential with Mercedes, according to team boss Ross Brawn.
Hamilton dominated the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, and has taken three pole positions in the last three races.
But Brawn said he was still adapting to his new team.
“When a driver of Lewis’s calibre joins a team, there is massive expectation but every driver takes a little time to settle in, to understand the nuances,” Brawn said.
“It has taken a little while but I see great signs, particularly the last few races.”
Hamilton’s victory puts him 48 points behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull with 225 points still available in the remaining nine races.
His form suggests he can mount a title challenge.
Hamilton was leading the British Grand Prix before dropping to the back of the field with a tyre failure and recovering to finish fourth.
Despite that, he has scored more points in the last three races than any other driver.
Asked about his title chances, Hamilton said: “It’s too early [to talk about it] at the moment. [But] of course it’s definitely in the back of my mind.”
He added that he felt he had a car that was quick enough to win every one of the remaining races.
“I truly believe in this car. It feels awesome,” he said.
Hamilton struggled a little to adapt to the Mercedes car at the start of the season and was out-qualified by team-mate Nico Rosberg for three races in a row in Bahrain, Spain and Monaco.
But he is now getting to grips with it – the qualifying score after 10 races is seven-three to Hamilton – and Brawn said the Englishman would keep on improving.
“[Hamilton] is starting to pick up momentum and move in the right direction,” Brawn said. “So we honestly don’t know where the limit is, because we are on a journey with Lewis and we don’t know where the limits are.”
Mercedes have three wins and four poles from the last five races – Rosberg inherited the British Grand Prix victory following the retirement of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and the German also won in Monaco.
Brawn said: “It’s our big challenge to maintain that [momentum]. Our hit rate [on developments] has been pretty good this season – things that we have brought to the track have generally worked and we’ve got some things coming up in the next few races that could give us the impetus and momentum to take us through the year.”
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Uncategorized
Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo says he shares Fernando Alonso’s frustration at the team’s poor form.
But the Italian said he had no regrets about reprimanding his star driver for making remarks critical of the car.
Di Montezemolo said Ferrari “must” get back to early-season form, when Alonso took two dominant victories in the first five races.
But he said he admonished the Spaniard because he “didn’t like some attitudes, a few words, some outbursts” from him.
Alonso had said after the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished fifth in the last race before Formula 1’s month-long summer break, that as a birthday present he would like “someone else’s car”.
Di Montezemolo, who also addressed the team last week to make it clear they must improve their performance, said: “Fernando is a great driver and I understand him. He is a bit like me: he wants to win.
“He must just remember that one wins and loses together and, for its part, Ferrari must give him a car capable of starting from the front two rows. It doesn’t sit well with me seeing our car is not competitive.
“That’s why I intervened, even if I didn’t want to abuse my authority over my men. However, it had to be done.
“We started so well, we had begun the world championship with a very competitive car, maybe even considered the best.
“But something happened and instead of moving forward we went backwards.
“Therefore the right attitude, the one I am taking from now on, is as follows: understand the mistakes, fix them and after this careful analysis, develop the car in the right direction.
“We must put our heads down in this return match, as I describe this second part of the season after the break.”
Alonso heads into the final nine races of the season, starting with the Belgian Grand Prix on 25 August, 39 points behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull with a maximum of 225 available.
The 32-year-old has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, and the car has been increasingly uncompetitive over the last four races, in which he has finished second, third, fourth and fifth.
Di Montezemolo said: “Firstly, our DNA, Ferrari’s and mine, has a characteristic that we never give up. We must get back on the path we were on up until Barcelona. We can do it.
“Secondly, Spa and Monza (the next two races) are two circuits that could suit the characteristics of our car.
“Yes, the conditions are in place to give a strong signal of a recovery and, on top of that, I expect results from our engineers who must demonstrate their worth.”
Justifying his decision to phone Alonso on his birthday – 29 July – to make it clear his comments after Hungary had been unacceptable, Di Montezemolo said: “Fernando has given a lot in these last years and I repeat, his disappointment, which came about mainly after Silverstone, where all of us expected to be more competitive, is understandable.
“But I didn’t like some attitudes, a few words, some outbursts. And I said so.
“I reminded everyone, including the drivers, that Ferrari comes before everything, the priority is the team.
“Rather like a family father pointing out the need to respect some family rules, I wish to underline the concept of family values.”
He also made it clear to Alonso’s team-mate Felipe Massa, who is out of contract at the end of the year, that he needed to up his game.
“Felipe is a quick driver and a great guy,” Di Montezemolo said. “But in the past days, we were very clear with him: both he and us need results and points. Then, at some point, we will look one another in the eye and decide what to do.”
Di Montezemolo would prefer to keep Massa. But if he does not, Ferrari’s order of preference for potential replacements is Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, Force India pair Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil and Marussia’s Jules Bianchi.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Uncategorized
Walter Smith is urging Rangers fans to support boardroom changes after he stepped down as chairman at Ibrox.
The former manager referred to a “highly-dysfunctional environment” at board level.
And he wants the general meeting of shareholders that was requested last week to take place soon.
Smith said: “I am now imploring everyone to back these proposed changes so that much-needed stability and a level of integrity can be restored.”
The 65-year-old also called for his successor Ally McCoist to be given the chance to manage the club “under conditions similar to those which were afforded his predecessors”.
A group thought to be led by Scottish businessman Jim McColl is seeking to wrest control from the regime currently fronted by chief executive Craig Mather.
With a power struggle in full swing, Smith is backing calls for former director Paul Murray and Frank Blin to join the board, although he stated that Mather was doing a good job and hoped he would be able to continue.
Smith had been involved in failed takeover attempt with McColl shortly after Charles Green’s consortium had purchased the liquidation-bound club’s assets and business last June.
Green subsequently invited Smith to join the board and he took up the non-executive post of chairman at the end of May.
But the ex-Scotland boss did not last long in the position, saying that his resignation was “the only option left open”.
Green, who quit as chief executive in April, is returning in a consultant’s capacity and immediately angered McCoist by warning the manager he would need to win a cup.
And Smith has a great deal of sympathy for his former assistant, saying: “As for Alistair McCoist, it is important that we all appreciate that no other Rangers manager has had to work with poorer or more trying circumstances.”
Smith, who won 21 major trophies in his two spells as Rangers manager, then turned his focus to the fans, whose main representative groups issued a joint statement expressing “deep anxiety” over his departure.
“They have suffered agonies and tortures over the last two years but they can be proud of their contribution,” he said.
“They did not waver in their support of their club and as far as I am concerned they have been absolutely the one outstanding feature of this club.
“Indeed, they are a reminder to those in the boardroom that directors have the massive and ultimate responsibility of serving, protecting and nourishing this club for the benefit of the fans and not an individual or any associates.
“As a manager I had to make many difficult decisions but none was tougher than the one I have just made.
“Stepping away from this club is heart breaking but I will always be grateful for the support Rangers fans have given me down through the years.”
The group of shareholders calling for change are believed to hold approximately 30% of shares in Rangers but hope to persuade enough institutional shareholders and supporters to get a majority.
Rangers had 21 days to respond to the requisition and would have another 21 days to constitute an extraordinary general meeting to vote on the request if they deem it viable.
Mather, who expressed sadness at Smith’s decision to resign, has labelled the challenge “ill-considered and ill-timed”, saying: “We will not be defeated, I certainly won’t.”
