Must read: new high for FTSE 100, Standard Chartered, Unilever
ii’s head of investment rounds up the morning’s big news.
31st July 2025 08:53
by Victoria Scholar from interactive investor
GLOBAL MARKETS
In a mega week for markets, the FTSE 100 has opened higher, peaking at 9,190 in early trade, lifted by Rentokil Initial (LSE:RTO) and Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.), both up by around 10% each thanks to strong earnings reports. Rolls-Royce continues to be a standout stock market winner, gaining over 140% across the past twelve months.
- Our Services: SIPP Account | Stocks & Shares ISA | See all Investment Accounts
US futures are pointing higher after Meta Platforms Inc Class A (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported strong earnings beats. Microsoft is on track to surpass $4 trillion valuation after the market open. All eyes are on Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) later today.
STANDARD CHARTERED
Standard Chartered (LSE:STAN) reported first-half underlying profit before tax of $4.7 billion, outpacing analysts’ expectations and raised its full-year income guidance.
In a sign of confidence, Standard Chartered is returning cash to shareholders with a new $1.3 billion share buyback and an interim dividend of 12.3 cents a share up from 9 cents.
A crown jewel in these numbers was its Wealth Solutions business in which income increased by 24% in the first half. Net new money hit a record high in the second quarter, reaching $28 billion in the first half with 135,000 new clients. Its wealth business continues to reap the rewards of targeting the affluent sector in the relevant regions like Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Standard Chartered continues to pursue its ambition to deliver $200 billion of net new money from 2025 to 2029.
Other divisions also supported performance with particularly impressive growth of 28% in global markets, thanks to a boost in trading volumes on the back of Trump’s tariff induced market volatility. And global banking managed to enjoy a 14% boost, highlighting the strength of Standard Chartered’ business diversification.
The key metrics revealed the bank’s capital base is in good shape, with its capital cushion, or CET1 ratio rising to 14.3% in Q2 and a Return on Tangible Equity (RoTE) up to 19.7%.
Amid a mixed bank reporting season, Standard Chartered stands out from the crowd with impressive progress across wealth and trading. Standard Chartered is managing to successfully weather the China downturn with relatively low exposure to Hong Kong’s embattled real estate sector. This contrasts with rival HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA) which is paying a much heavier price for China’s property market turmoil.
Despite the market sell-off in April around Liberation Day, shares in StanChart are still up by almost 40% year-to-date, in line with Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) and Barclays (LSE:BARC) but sharply outperforming the wider FTSE 100.
With such a stellar price run, shares obviously do not look cheap and Standard will need to deliver on its projections for the next leg of growth. With a consensus hold on the stock from the analyst community, it looks like StanChart is proving its critics wrong this year.
UNILEVER
Unilever (LSE:ULVR) reported half-year underlying operating profit of 5.8 billion euros, slightly ahead of forecasts for 5.7 billion euros. Second-quarter underlying sales growth hit 3.8%, also topping forecasts and kept its 2025 sales outlook unchanged.
Sales growth was driven by strength in personal care, up 4.8% and beauty and wellbeing up 3.7% with a good mix of both volume and price improvements, up 1.5% and 1.9% respectively. However, turnover was down on the back of adverse currency movements and net disposals. Among its brands, Dove and Vaseline were strong performers while TREemme and Dermalogica had a more difficult period.
Unilever’s ice cream disposal is fully on track and it said the “Magnum Ice Cream Company” will likely be demerged in mid-November. The newly listed company, which also includes Cornetto and Ben & Jerry’s brands in its portfolio, saw underlying sales growth of 5.9% which bodes well for its prospect as a standalone business.
In terms of geographies, developed markets which accounts for 44% of group turnover enjoyed sales growth of 4.3% mostly driven by volume rather than price. Emerging markets grew sales of 2.8%, which was conversely driven by price rather than volume.
Since Fernando Fernandez took to the helm as CEO in March, shares in Unilever have struggled to make progress. The stock has declined by almost 10% off the April highs as investors express concerns about the weak economic backdrop and cost-conscious consumers switching to cheaper own-brand products. And as Unilever deals with costly disposals and braces for life without its successful ice cream brands.
For many, Unilever will continue to be seen as a solid defensive play and a core constituent of many portfolios. However, its recent performance has meant that some investors are looking more towards Reckitt Benckiser Group (LSE:RKT) as the possible preferred play in the sector.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.