Investors in asset manager Abrdn will be hoping for further signs of improvement when it reports third-quarter figtures under new chief executive Jason Windsor.

Half-year results in August showed a fall in net outflows to £1 billion from £6.5bn in the same period of 2023.

Adjusted profits edged up 1% to £128 million, helped by a cost-cutting, including a reduction in headcount.

This came amid planned savings of £60m over 2024, stretching to at least £150m by the end of 2025.

Thursday’s figures will provide an insight into how Abrdn is faring in meeting the targets, alongside efforts to improve competitiveness and build customers on the Interactive Investor platform.

Shares have climbed by about a quarter in the past six months, taking year-to-date decline to 2.8%.

Banks report third quarter figures

Taxable profits across the big high street banks are expected to come in flat or lower this year and next at about £48 billion, although this will easily exceed the the pre-crisis peak of £36bn in 2007.

Third quarter figures, starting this week with Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest will show the affect of competition and interest rat cuts on net interest margins and net interest income.

“That is a key reason why analysts think the banks may struggle to grow earnings substantially from here onwards,” say analysts at AJ Bell.

The better news is that loan and asset impairments remain modest, and they actually fell year-on-year in the second quarter to just £382m across Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest (RBS).

Litigation and conduct costs were also minimal in the second quarter, at just £154m across the three after the spike at Lloyds in late 2023, in response to the Financial Conduct Authority’s investigation into the car finance market, which has yet to conclude.

There are unlikely to be any comments on dividends at this stage of the year, but Barclays and Lloyds are running ongoing share buyback schemes and NatWest has bought back £1.5bn in stock from the government this year, as the UK has whittled down its stake to around 16%.

China stimulus

China’s central bank said today it had cut two key interest rates to historic lows, in the latest move by Beijing to boost sluggish spending and kickstart the world’s second-largest economy.

The cuts come just days after the country posted its slowest quarterly growth in a year and a half, underlining the deep economic woes the country faces.

London’s stock market was expected to start the week higher. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.5%. However, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.3%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.2%.

DIARY

Monday 21 October

• World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings, Washington DC (run all week)

Tuesday 22 October

• Full-year results from Virgin Wine
• Trading statements from InterContinental Hotels and Gear4Music
• UK government borrowing

Wednesday 23 October

• Q3 Lloyds Banking Group
• Trading statements from Reckitt Benckiser, WPP, Barratt Redrow and Fresnillo
• EU consumer confidence
• Bank of Canada interest rate decision

Thursday 24 October

• Q3 Abrdn
• Q3 Barclays
• Trading statements from London Stock Exchange, Anglo American, Inchape, Renishaw, Essentra, Dunelm, Bloomsbury Publishing and Luceco

Friday 25 October

• Q3 NatWest
• UK GfK consumer confidence