冼博德最後一搏爲渣打削減成本
Peter Sandshas sought to put a positive gloss on a difficult end to his eight years as chief executive of Standard Chartered by announcing beefed up cost-cutting plans and ruling out the need for a rights issue for the London-listed bank.
冼博德(Peter Sands)試圖爲其8年渣打銀行(Standard Chartered)行政總裁生涯的艱難收尾增添積極的一筆，他宣佈了更加有力的成本削減計劃，並認爲這家倫敦上市銀行沒有必要進行配股融資。But analysts said the new strategy could soon be torn up by Bill Winters , the former JPMorgan Chase investment banker, who the lender announced last week would take over from Mr Sands in June as part of a radical boardroom clear-out.
但分析師表示，這一新戰略可能很快就會被其繼任拋棄。渣打上週宣佈，前摩根大通(JPMorgan)投資銀行家比爾•溫特斯(Bill Winters)將於今年6月接替冼博德出任行政總裁。這是該行董事會“大換血”的一部分。
Hit by a sharp increase in bad debt provisions, rising costs and falling revenues, the bank that is focused on Asia, Africa and the Middle East reported a 37 per cent fall in net profits to $2.5bn last year.
受壞賬準備金大幅增加、成本上升以及收入下降影響，渣打去年淨利潤下降了37%至25億美元。渣打業務主要集中在亞洲、非洲和中東地區。
setting new targets for cost-cutting and strengthening its balance sheet, Mr Sands said the bank had suffered “a perfect storm” and its deteriorating performance was “disappointing”.
冼博德爲渣打削減成本及改善資產負債表設定了新目標，他表示，該行遭受了“一場颶風驟雨”，越來越糟的業績“令人失望”。The chief executive said that he and his fellow executive board members waived their bonuses to “show leadership”, with the exception of Andy Halford, who joined in the middle of last year.
冼博德說，他和其他執行董事（去年年中加入渣打的安迪•哈爾福德(Andy Halford)除外）都宣佈放棄自己的獎金以“展現領導力”。One adviser to StanChart said there was an air of fin de règne about the announcements.
渣打的一位顧問稱，這些公告帶有一代王朝走到終點的意味。“These are the old dying throes of Peter — but to be fair, StanChart has not been given much credit for what they have done so far,” said the adviser.
“這些都是冼博德了無新意的垂死掙扎，但公平地說，渣打併沒有因他們迄今所作的努力而贏得太多肯定，”這位顧問說。Despite the sharp drop in net profits, shares in StanChart closed up more than 5 per cent in London trading, as investors welcomed the more ambitious cost-cutting and beefed up capital targets.
儘管淨利潤大幅下滑，渣打股票在倫敦的交易中仍收漲逾5%，更雄心勃勃的成本削減計劃以及更高的資本金目標受到了投資者的歡迎。The bank said it aimed to increase its common equity tier one ratio — a key measure of financial strength — to between 11 per cent and 12 per cent. Last year its capital ratio rose from 10.2 per cent to 10.7 per cent.
渣打表示，它的目標是將普通股一級資本充足率（衡量銀行財務健康狀況的關鍵指標）提升至11%到12%。去年，該行這一比例從10.2%升至10.7%。Analysts expect Mr Winters to launch a $5bn-$10bn rights issue soon after taking over as chief executive, but Mr Sands denied this was part of the bank’s current strategy.
分析師預計，溫特斯接任行政總裁後，很快將推出一項50億至100億美元的配股融資計劃，但冼博德否認這是該行現行戰略的一部分。To achieve the new targets, StanChart plans to shrink risk-weighted assets by $25bn-$30bn and to reduce costs by $1.8bn over three years. An earlier cost reduction target of $400m for 2015 was increased by 50 per cent, including expected disposals.
爲了實現這些新目標，渣打計劃將風險加權資產縮減250億至300億美元，並在3年裏削減成本18億美元。早前制定的2015年削減4億美元成本的目標被提高了50%，包括預期中的各項處置。StanChart said it aimed to achieve a return on equity of 10 per cent “in the medium term”. Last year its return on equity fell from 11.2 per cent to 7.8 per cent.
渣打表示，它的目標是“在中期內”實現10%的股本回報率。去年，該行股本回報率從11.2%跌至7.8%。“We think it unlikely that such modest change will be accepted by the new chief executive as the plan he will live with for the next three years,” said Jason Napier, banking analyst at Deutsche Bank. “It is positive, though, that StanChart isn’t wasting six months waiting for a new plan.”
“我們認爲，這種溫和的變革不太可能被新的行政總裁接納爲他心目中未來3年應該執行的計劃。”德意志銀行(Deutsche Bank)銀行業分析師傑森•內皮爾(Jason Napier)說，“不過，渣打沒有再浪費6個月時間去等待一項新計劃，這種態度還是積極的。”Mr Sands refused to say if he had discussed the new strategy with his successor. Mr Halford said: “We didn’t have time to wait for Bill. It’s full pedal to the floor.”
冼博德拒絕透露他是否已與其繼任者討論了這一新戰略。哈爾福德說：“我們沒有時間等待比爾。我們已經把油門踩到了底。”The bank kept its dividend steady at 86 cents per share. Normalised earnings per share fell from 204 cents to 145.9 cents.
渣打的股息沒有變化，仍爲每股86美分。正常化每股收益(Normalised EPS)從204美分降至145.9美分。
