Latest news with #BAC
New Straits Times
9 hours ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Kien Keat dares Aaron-Wooi Yik to smash his five-title record
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Asian Games champion Koo Kien Keat has urged high-flying Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to stay hungry and keep chasing more titles. The world No. 3 have been in red-hot form, winning three of their last four tournaments. Aaron-Wooi Yik have triumphed at the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC), Thailand Open and most recently the Singapore Open. Their only setback came in the Malaysia Masters two weeks ago, where they finished runners-up to compatriots Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun. Kien Keat, who formed a world No. 1 partnership with Tan Boon Heong, holds the Malaysian record for most men's doubles titles in a calendar year — five in 2007. But with half the World Tour season still to go, Aaron-Wooi Yik are on course to surpass that. However, Kien Keat warned that staying sharp mentally and maintaining their hunger would be key. "This is their best run since becoming world champions in 2022," said Kien Keat. "But they must not get comfortable. Winning one or two titles should never be enough. They need to keep their mindset right if they want to win more." He added that the road ahead will only get tougher. "Opponents are now studying their game. The challenge will intensify, and they must stay a step ahead." Kien Keat credited the pair's improved mental strength and tactical clarity to the arrival of coach Herry IP in February. "They used to hesitate in matches, but Herry has clearly made a difference," he said. "You can see their confidence growing. They now stick to their gameplan, even under pressure, and that's a huge step forward." Aaron-Wooi Yik initially struggled on the World Tour, losing six consecutive finals before breaking through at the Super 750 Denmark Open in 2023. They added the Super 300 Korea Open last year. Now on a roll, they will be eyeing another strong showing at this week's Super 1000 Indonesia Open.
Business Insider
11 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Trump administration prepares to ease rules imposed on big banks, Politico says
The Trump administration is preparing to ease rules imposed on big banks in response to the 2008 financial crisis, Michael Stratford of Politico reports. Trump-appointed regulators are close to completing a proposal set to relax rules on how much of a capital cushion the nation's largest banks must have to absorb potential losses and remain solvent during periods of economic stress. Publicly traded companies in the space include Bank of America (BAC), Citi (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), U.S. Bancorp (USB) and Wells Fargo (WFC). Confident Investing Starts Here:
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Troopers: Driver arrested for DUI after smashing into barrier in Burien
Troopers with Washington State Patrol arrested a driver Sunday morning accused of driving under the influence. It happened around 6 a.m. on SR 518 near Burien. Troopers say the driver crashed into a barrier on the highway. A photo shows that the driver's BAC was .192. No one was hurt but it appears the front end of the car was badly damaged.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Citigroup vs. Bank of America: Which Stock Has More Upside Potential?
When it comes to banking giants, Bank of America BAC and Citigroup C are often talked about. Both operate across consumer, corporate and investment banking sectors, and are currently navigating similar macroeconomic challenges. The performances of BAC and C are highly influenced by the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. As the central bank lowered rates last year, both banks benefited from that as funding costs came down. Now, with the central bank adopting a cautious approach toward rate cuts because of the Trump administration's tariff plans, Bank of America and Citigroup are likely to gain as rates are expected to remain higher for longer. Let us closely examine other factors at play for BAC and C to determine which stock currently presents the better investment opportunity. Bank of America's aggressive branch expansion across the United States as part of a broader strategy to solidify customer relationships and tap into new markets will drive net interest income (NII) growth over time. The company continues to align its banking centers according to customer needs. The bank has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan to open financial centers in new and existing markets. By 2027, it plans to expand its financial center network and open more than 150 centers. Given such expansion efforts, BAC's expenses are likely to remain elevated in the near term. The company expects non-interest expenses to rise 2-3% in 2025. Further, BAC has been renovating and updating its existing financial centers across the country for clients to engage with financial specialists. These initiatives, along with the success of the person-to-person money transfer system Zelle and the digital financial assistant Erica, will enable the company to improve digital offerings and cross-sell several products, including mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. Bank of America is seeing an upside in NII in 2025, driven by decent loan demand, higher-for-longer interest rates and robust deposit balance. The company expects 2025 NII to rise 6-7%. Citigroup has been emphasizing leaner, streamlined operations to reduce expenses. The transformation process included an organizational restructuring, as well as the elimination of 20,000 jobs by 2025. Further, the company has been focusing on growth in its core businesses by streamlining its overseas operations. In April 2021, it announced the plan to exit the consumer banking business in 14 markets across Asia and EMEA. In sync with this, this week, Citigroup, through its subsidiary Citibank Europe Plc, announced that Citi Handlowy agreed to sell its consumer banking business in Poland. The company has successfully exited from consumer banking businesses in nine countries, including Australia, Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. As part of its strategy, Citigroup continued to make progress with the wind-downs of its Korea consumer banking operations and its overall operations in Russia, as well as the preparation for a planned initial public offering of its consumer banking and small business, and middle-market banking operations in Mexico. These moves by Citigroup are likely to free up capital to invest in higher-return segments like wealth management and investment banking. Also, a reduction in functional roles, along with the bank's consumer banking divesture effort, will help it reduce expenses. For 2025, management expects expenses to be below $53.4 billion. In 2024, the company's expenses were $53.9 billion. Citigroup is expected to witness an improvement in NII in 2025, given decent loan demand and higher deposit balances. The company projects NII (ex-Markets) to rise 2-3% year over year in 2025. In the past year, C and BAC shares have risen 25.5% and 16.9%, respectively, compared with the industry's growth of 31.1%. Though both underperformed the industry average, C performed better than BAC. Price Performance Image Source: Zacks Investment Research In terms of valuation, Citigroup is currently trading at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings (P/E) of 9.28X, higher than its five-year median of 8.45X. The BAC stock, in contrast, is currently trading at a 12-month forward P/E of 11.27X, which is lower than its five-year median of 11.59X. Price-to-Earnings F12M Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Both are trading at a discount compared with the industry average of 13.64X. However, BAC is more expensive than the C stock. Additionally, Bank of America and Citigroup are required to undergo annual stress tests conducted by the Fed before they can announce their capital distribution plans. Following the stress test, they hiked their dividends last year. Citigroup hiked its quarterly dividend by 6% to 56 cents per share. It has a dividend yield of 2.99%. Similarly, BAC increased its quarterly dividend by 8% to 26 cents per share. It has a dividend yield of 2.36%. Based on dividend yield, C has an edge over BAC. Dividend Yield Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Both companies have a share repurchase plan. In July 2024, Bank of America authorized a $25-billion stock repurchase program, effective Aug. 1, 2024. As of March 31, 2025, almost $14.4 billion worth of buyback authorization remained available. Similarly, on Jan. 13, 2025, Citigroup's board of directors approved a $20-billion common stock repurchase program with no expiration date. As of March 31, 2025, it had nearly $18 billion of stocks available under the plan. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BAC's 2025 and 2026 sales implies year-over-year increases of 5.9% and 5.6%, respectively. Likewise, the consensus estimate for 2025 and 2026 earnings indicates 12.2% and 15.3% growth, respectively. Bank of America's earnings estimates for 2025 have been revised upward, while for 2026, estimates have moved lower over the past 30 days. BAC Estimate Revision Trend Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for C's 2025 and 2026 sales reflects year-over-year growth of 3.2% and 3%, respectively. Likewise, the consensus estimate for 2025 and 2026 earnings indicates a rise of 23% and 25.9%, respectively. Its earnings estimates for 2025 and 2026 have been revised upward over the past month. C Estimate Revision Trend Image Source: Zacks Investment Research BAC is focusing on aggressive branch network expansion across the United States, and significant technology investments to enhance customer experience and cross-selling opportunities. While this long-term strategy aims to deepen customer relationships and drive NII growth, it involves substantial upfront costs. In contrast, Citigroup is executing a highly disciplined and focused restructuring strategy. The exit from underperforming consumer markets is freeing up resources to redeploy into higher-margin businesses. This streamlining not only enhances operational efficiency but also helps the company to reduce costs. BAC anticipates higher NII growth in 2025, driven by a stable interest rate environment and sustained loan growth. However, its expenses are also expected to increase. Moreover, BAC's earnings estimates have seen some downward revisions for 2026. Alternatively, C projects decent NII growth this year but expects expenses to be below the 2024 level, leading to a projected earnings growth significantly outpacing BAC. Also, upward earnings estimate revisions indicate growing analyst confidence. Hence, Citigroup's sharper focus on cost reductions, bullish analyst sentiments compared with BAC, cheaper valuation and better stock performance position it as the more compelling investment opportunity. C and BAC currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Bank of America Corporation (BAC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Citigroup Inc. (C) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
IOL News
4 days ago
- IOL News
Zandile Gumede case: State witness confirms former City Manager's role in waste tender decisions
Former eThekwini City Manager Sipho Nzuza. Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers A State witness has told the Durban High Court that the former City Manager of eThekwini Municipality was well within his rights to sign letters of award for the waste collection tenders in 2017. The R320 million Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender fraud trial involves former Mayor Zandile Gumede and 21 other accused who facenumerous charges including money laundering, racketeering, fraud, corruption, and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Systems Act. In 2017 the Solid Waste Unit had to urgently appoint service providers to collect waste in the City as the contracts of existing service providers were due to expire on December 31, 2017. Moreover, the State witness who in December 2017 worked at the tenders and contracts unit has admitted under cross examination that Sipho Nzuza, the former City Manager was within his rights to require or ask the former deputy head of Supply Chain Management, Sandile Ngcobo about the letters of awards on December 28 2017. Ngcobo is also an accused in this matter. This is as the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) chaired by Ngcobo approved the Solid Waste unit to approach experienced service providers to collect waste in eThekwini. The BAC gave it approval on December 19,2017 for the Solid Waste Unit to get new service providers to collect waste. It also approved their quotations. This witness told the court that she did not take the BAC decision to the Executive Acquisitions Committee (EAC). The EAC was an advisory committee established by Nzuza to assist him to make decisions. In giving various reasons for this, the witness on Thursday told the court that these decisions did not go to the EAC because she was on leave and the agenda was prepared days before the EAC. She had also told the court that she was responsible for drafting the agenda for all the committees and decision circulars. Despite the urgency of the matter, the witness said the BAC decisions about the solid waste tender reached the EAC on January 29, 2018. Nzuza's counsel, Advocate Credo Mlaba put it to the witness that Nzuza was faced with a situation where the waste was not going to be collected in the City and on December 28, 2017 he approached Ngcobo for an update on the waste collection and asked him to attend to the letters of award, as this was an emergency. 'Nzuza said it would have been impossible for him to wait for January 29, 2018 as the BAC decisions did not make it to the EAC meeting on December 21, 2017. Would you like to comment on that?' The witness said it was understood this was Nzuza's role and the witness also agreed with advocate Jay Naidoo SC, counsel for Gumede that the SCM policy and regulations authorised Nzuza to sign the letters of awards based on decisions taken by the BAC. However, she said if he solely signed without consulting EAC, he would be disregarding his own internal policy.
