Managers taking cautious view on investment banks

Rising unemployment, bad debts and a continued lack of merger and acquisition activity are expected to cause further deterioration throughout the European banking sector in 2003. Jeremy Sigee, European banks analyst at SchroderSalomon SmithBarney, says rising geopolitical pressures have led consumer and management confidence levels to fall, economic forecasts to be cut and stock markets to slip. He says European investment banks do not appear cheap and suggests investors take a cautious view. His current earnings estimates are already around 25% below consensus and, he says, they ...