PUBLIC opinion over bank pay and energy prices will be tested again this week when state-owned banks RBS and Lloyds, and British Gas owner Centrica, post figures for 2011.
Taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland will hope to put the bonus furore behind it on Thursday when it reveals a likely bounce back to full-year profit.
RBS, which is 83% State owned after taking bail-out assistance worth £45bn at the height of the financial crisis, is expected to report bottom-line pre-tax profits of £138m in 2011, compared to a £239m loss the previous year, according to Nomura.
The bank has been at the centre of a row over bankers’ pay in recent weeks, which ultimately led to chief executive Stephen Hester waiving his £963,000 all-shares bonus.
The bank has moved to strip down its investment arm, Global Banking and Markets, with the loss of 3,500 jobs amid increased Government pressure to focus its operations on UK high street services.
Fellow part-nationalised bank Lloyds Banking Group has managed to avoid the bonus row so far after boss Antonio Horta-Osorio waived his annual payout due to a leave of absence.
But like RBS, the 41% state-owned bank is also going through a massive overhaul, which will include around 15,000 job cuts and the EU-enforced sale of 632 branches. Lloyds is expected to report a statutory loss of £4bn for 2011, compared to a profit of £281m the previous year.
The City will be looking for an update on how much this restructuring will cost as well as any progress made on completing the sale branches to preferred bidder the Co-operative.
The mild weather at the end of 2011 will see Centrica’s residential arm British Gas report its lowest profit in three years on Thursday.
The UK’s biggest gas supplier is expected to report a 25% fall in profits to £550m at its household energy business in 2011. British Gas still made about £50 profit per household per year. It will say the profit fall was caused by volatile wholesale energy prices, as it made a loss for five months after delaying the hike in gas and electricity prices by an average of 18% and 16% respectively until August 18.
It has since announced a 5% cut in electricity prices.
And the group is set to report record overall profits of £2.5bn, up 4% on the previous year as its upstream business smashes through the £1bn barrier for the first time. The division is set to see a 38% increase in profits £1.1bn.
Redrow and Barratt Developments are both expected to say that the spring selling season has been buoyant as new buyers rush to take advantage of an amnesty that ends on March 24 for homes worth between £125,000 and £250,000.
When it last updated the market, Barratt said pre-tax profits rose to £25.3m in the 12 months to June 30, compared with £700,000 the previous year, as average selling prices of private homes increased to £174,100 from £154,800.
The City expects the group to report a 65% rise in pre-tax profits to £14m in the six months to December 31, on revenues up 3% to £223m.
