RBA softens tone while companies outline capital and growth plans
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s message was slightly less hawkish, according to Abhijit Surya, a senior APAC economist at Capital Economics. Surya said the central bank toned down its hawkish bias “just a touch” and that its “accompanying messaging wasn’t quite as hawkish this time around.”
The RBA reiterated that it would do what it considered necessary to return inflation to target, including raising its cash-rate target further. Surya said the central bank conditioned that response on upside risks emerging. “While the Board continued to talk tough on inflation, we don’t believe that it will go as far as to hike rates again this cycle,” he said.
Bank of Queensland intends to pay a special dividend of A$0.15 a share and plans to buy back as much as A$196 million of shares on the market. The plans followed the sale of its whole-of-loan equipment-finance portfolio to Challenger.
Jefferies analyst Andrew Lyons said the capital return provided clarity on surplus-capital deployment but that the firm remained cautious about Bank of Queensland’s medium-term outlook. He cited declining housing balances and increasing reliance on “(late-cycle) commercial real estate.”
Jefferies retained its underperform call on Bank of Queensland and raised its price target by 0.7% to A$5.68 a share. Bank of Queensland ended Monday at A$6.83.
BNP Paribas was marketing a new dollar-denominated additional tier 1 bond with initial price talk at 7.5%, according to LSEG data cited in the roundup. The bond’s first reset date is Feb. 17, 2032.
ING’s Jesse Norcross said BNP Paribas’ existing dollar AT1 bonds with a 2033 call date were quoted at about 6.8%. Norcross said the difference indicated that the new bonds had a “decent new issue premium.”
Bank of America analysts discussed Plus500’s growth and revenue. Plus500 said in its half-year results that it had used excess revenue from recent volatility to invest for growth, a strategy the analysts said they supported.
The analysts said Plus500’s cash conversion supported further distributions. They also pointed to the company’s shift toward higher-quality revenue in its legacy over-the-counter derivatives business and its diversification. Bank of America described Plus500’s expansion into prediction markets as a “significant growth opportunity.” Plus500 shares rose 6.1% in London.
Bank of America analysts also assessed St. James’s Place. The firm said the U.K. wealth-management company’s valuation did not reflect an expected improvement in performance and projected earnings-per-share compound annual growth of 23% from 2026 through 2030.
The analysts attributed that outlook to funds under management becoming fee-earning, organic net inflows and operational efficiencies. Christiane Holstein said concerns about adviser retention were overplayed. St. James’s Place reported a 90% retention rate in the first half of 2026, which Holstein said was in line with peers and historical data.
Bank of America also pointed to strong underlying demand for financial advice despite U.K. macroeconomic and political uncertainty. St. James’s Place shares rose 0.2%.