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Howard Winn

Mike Mayo, CLSA's head of US banking research is not one for pulling his punches.
In 2012, he declared: "In Asia, Citibank is the Tiffany of banking, but its corporate governance is like a five-and-dime store in Park Avenue." And in 2013 he observed: "Citi had the highest CEO pay over the last decade but with the worst bank performance. That was an insult to capitalism."
But he started to warm to the bank when Mike O'Neill took over as chairman in April 2012 and promoted Mike Corbat to chief executive.
Last April when the stock stood at about US$48, he reckoned Citi stock should double in price over the next four years. It's risen about US$1 since that call to US$49, which is still some way off. But hey, there's plenty of time.
Meanwhile this year, in his latest report he comments that while Citigroup needs to get back to average, Citi Asia is already above average and likely to get better. And there is more. "Structurally, it is a premiere Asian bank that benefits from faster growth, high-end customers and better-than-peer performance."
High praise indeed from the bank's former nemesis, now one of its premier cheerleaders.
 
Hong Kong: Sustainable City?
Hong Kong has been ranked eighth overall in the Sustainable Cities index, which is a ranking of 50 of the world's largest cities in terms of their effectiveness at juggling the demands of "people, planet and profit".
The index was headed by Frankfurt, London and Copenhagen with Seoul the top Asian city ranked seventh and Singapore 10th. The index is organised by Arcadis, the design and management firm, which says that in an age that is witnessing the emergence of the global city, the index "highlights the areas of opportunity for cities, to inform decision-making and hopefully make them more sustainable economically, environmentally and for the welfare of their inhabitants".
Breaking out the sub-indices, Hong Kong was third in terms of profit, 14th in the planet index and sixth in terms of people.
Generally cities were best at meeting the needs of profit and worst at meeting the needs of people. "City leaders need to find ways to balance the demands of generating strong financial returns, being an attractive place for people to live and work in, whilst also limiting their damage to the environment," said John Batten, global cities director at Arcadis.
 
Indian bull market
Everything seems to be going well for India these days. The financial markets are buoyant, business confidence is up and the World Bank and IMF forecast India will be the fastest growing major economy next year. There are other indicators that matter as well.
Take the case of Yuvraj the Murrah bull, named after the India cricket star and owned by a 47-year-old farmer in Haryana state. Yuvraj is a champion breeding bull and his semen is now possibly the most expensive in India, costing up to 350 rupees (HK$43.56) per dose, according to the BBC - more than 10 times the average.
An offer of 70 million rupees for Yuvraj was rejected.
 
Whisky Galore
Whisky investors will be relieved to learn that the market for high-end whisky appears solid following Bonhams first auction of the year.
This apparently exceeded pre-sales expectations totalling HK$6.8 million with Japanese whiskies dominating the action.
We are told there was heavy interest in whisky from closed distilleries in Japan and Scotland, with the most sought after lots including brands such as Karuizawa and Hanyu Ichiro from Japan and Port Ellen, Rosebank and Glen Mhor from Scotland.
 
Have you got any stories that Lai See should know about? Email them to howard.winn@scmp.com


CLSA's Mike Mayo goes full circle on his opinion of Citi

Japanese whisky proved popular. Photo: Nora Tam

Business

Banking & Finance

Opinion

Comment

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


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Lai See

Lai See | CLSA's Mike Mayo goes full circle on his opinion of Citi