Banking Performance
- 02:05
Banking Performance
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Okay, so what we're looking at here is a number of real banks, and I'd focus on the column return on equity. So if we think about how that return on equity is calculated, we're going to pick up the net income and divide that by the book value of shareholders equity. And you can notice that this is sorted in descending order. So Wells Fargo has the highest return on equity. Now, if you cast your eye to the column to the right of that, we've got price-to-book value. And so there's actually a really strong correlation here, between the price-to-book value and the return on equity. The average return on equity is 9.8%, and there are a number of banks that have a return on equity higher than that. And you'll notice that they have a price-to-book above one. And then as we move down, the very bottom, RBS as a low return on equity of 4.4 and it's got a price-to-book of 0.5 times. So we could say, reasonably, that return on equity drives value. So how could a bank enhance its return on equity? Well, what of course it could do is if it's going to try and improve its net income, then it could try and perhaps grant loans at higher rates of interest, but it's constrained within a commercial environment, so in order to do that, it would likely need to grant loans to riskier borrowers, and of course, if the borrowers are more risky, than from a regulatory capital point of view, it would increase its risk-weighted asset number which would mean that it would need more shareholders' equity. So in order to improve its return on equity it might look at costs. So it might say, "Let's look at compensation and benefit. Let's try and save costs there, and if we can save costs, then that can enhance net income." Finally, it might look to diversify into other areas who provide more advice for example.