BP plc shares a Strong Buy: Jyske Markets stand by oil major despite recent disappointing results

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Category: Financials

Published on Friday, 03 August 2012 08:52

Written by Will Peters

The morning financial news review, featuring: BP plc, Apple Inc, Turkish Bank money laundering, RBS losses, 

BP plc (LON:BP) shares are worth standing by urge the analyst team at Denmark's Jyske Markets. The Strong Buy call on the BP stock follows a poor Q2 result release that saw pre-tax profit come in at USD 3.658bn compared with the  estimated USD 4.400bn. 


Nevertheless Jykse believe the BP share price is over-sold:

"Fundamentally, we consider BP a quality company in the sector. We believe that BP, among other things, differs from other companies in the sector by hang a visionary management, a strong pipeline of new projects, and an organisation with a unique know-how within the areas exploration and production of new fields."

A 12 month target price is set at 490; however it must be noted that Jyske Bank warn that weaker oil prices and being found guilty of gross negligence over its Macondo disaster are two of the key risk factors facing the company.

Samsung tabs attempt to catch iPad market share

Apple’s iPad has claimed more than two thirds of the global tablet computer market, according to new industry figures. A report by IDC found that 25m tablets were sold worldwide in the three months to June 30, up 33.6% from the first quarter and 66.1% year-on-year. Apple got a boost from the March of its newest version of the iPad, and sold 17m tablets in the second quarter, giving it a 68% market share. Samsung jumped into second place with sales of nearly 2.4m, up 117% from a year earlier.

Tom Mainelli, an IDC analyst, said: “Apple built upon its strong March iPad launch and ended the quarter with its best-ever shipment total for the iPad, outrunning even the impressive shipment record it set in the fourth quarter of last year. The vast majority of consumers continue to favor the iPad over competitors,” writes The Times.

Turkish Bank in money-laundering spotlight

Another bank has been penalised for not doing enough to stop the proceeds of drug trafficking and other crimes flowing through its customers’ accounts.

Two weeks after HSBC was denounced in the US Senate for allegedly allowing drug cartels and terrorist groups to move money around the world with insufficient scrutiny, the British division of Turkish Bank was fined £294,000 yesterday for breaching rules against money laundering.

The Northern Cyprus-owned bank, which acts mainly for Turkish-speaking clients in London, did not put in place adequate anti-money-laundering procedures or conduct sufficiently detailed checks on its customers, the Financial Services Authority said, The Times reports.

RBS announce more losses

Royal Bank of Scotland Interim Results saw an operating profit of GBP1.83bn after a GBP125m provision for its technology incident and a GBP50m provision for interest rate swap mis-selling.

The loss before tax came in at GBP1.5bn with impairment losses totalling GBP2.64bn. It added that it will continue to focus on maintaining a strong Balance Sheet and capital position but noted that its economic and regulatory challenges are unlikely to abate over the remainder of the year. It intends to exit the Asset Protection Scheme in H2 2012, subject to FSA approval and that the IPO of Direct Line is on track and, subject to market conditions, is planned for October 2012.