ShoreCap downgrades Standard Chartered on valuation grounds

(Sharecast News) - Shore Capital downgraded Standard Chartered to 'sell' from 'hold' on Wednesday on valuation grounds. The broker said StanChart delivered a "strong" full-year performance on Tuesday, with a material increase in profitability and a step-up in return on tangible equity.

"The group also materially increased shareholder distributions, with a significantly higher-than-expected dividend alongside the announcement of a further $1.5bn share buyback," it said.

It pointed out that updated guidance targets a statutory RoTE of more than 12%, versus the broker's estimate of 12.8%, which Shore Capital expects to rise to around 14% by FY28 as restructuring rolls off.

"This underpins our revised target price of 1,490p, implying 17% downside from current levels, and suggests the shares are running ahead of fundamentals," it said. The target price was reduced from 1,500p.