PBOC Announces Elimination of the Original Lending Rate Floor

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced the elimination of the original lending rate floor of 30% discount to benchmark, allowing banks to lend at any discount to benchmark lending rates as they see fit. The PBOC scrapped the cap on lending rates in 2004, and this move will fully liberalize lending rates for banks. Greater pricing flexibility will enable the banks to retain their … Continue reading PBOC Announces Elimination of the Original Lending Rate Floor

PBCT Loan Segment Shows Growth

People’s United Financial reported net income of $62.1 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2013 compared with $64.8 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2012. Loans across all categories showed strong growth during the quarter, increasing at an annualized rate of 13%. The net interest margin declined to 3.33% for the second quarter compared with … Continue reading PBCT Loan Segment Shows Growth

Comparable Sales Look Good For Chipotle

Chipotle saw a nice sequential uptick in comparable restaurant sales during the second quarter, with much of the 5.5% increase stemming from ongoing peak-hour traffic throughput efforts as well as greater call-to-action marketing. Entering the quarter, there were concerns that competitive pressures (emergent fast-casual restaurant competition and more aggressive promotional activity from traditional quick-service and casual-dining players) might neutralize some of the throughput and marketing … Continue reading Comparable Sales Look Good For Chipotle

Loans Help Boost 2Q for USB

U.S. Bancorp USB reported net income of attributable to common shareholders of $1.4 billion, or $0.76 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2013 compared with $1.3 billion, or $0.71 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2012. Loans grew 7.4% compared with a year ago, primarily in commercial and residential loans. Low interest rates, primarily in investment securities, continued to pressure yields … Continue reading Loans Help Boost 2Q for USB

GPC Misses Street EPS Estimate

Genuine Parts Company reported earnings per share of $1.17, $0.04 less than the Street consensus but $0.09 better than year-ago EPS. The Street was expecting better performance from Genuine Parts’ office products and electrical wholesale operations. With the automotive group performing well and our expectation that the industrial and electrical/electronic (EIS) groups should improve as the year progresses, plus the accretion from the Exego acquisition, … Continue reading GPC Misses Street EPS Estimate

Google Plans To Rival WhatsApp

As an effort to compete with Facebook and WhatsApp, Google is rumored to launch free SMS app. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ FB) is striving to take over the mobile messaging market with it’s WhatsApp acquisition, but it may soon have to face serious competition from Google Inc (NASDAQ GOOG). According to a report from Economic Times, the search engine giant plans to start it’s own SMS … Continue reading Google Plans To Rival WhatsApp