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Research evidence excerpt

Top Stories

Global Equity Research

International First to Market 22 June 2026

Equity Strategy (Mislav Matejka, CFA)

Certain beaten down Consumer plays to show better performance in 2H

Some of the consumer sub-sectors are trying to form a bottom, trading off lows in the past weeks – top chart. Consumer

was in the eye of the storm for a while, but we think better performance for the parts of the group can continue in 2H.

Standard Life (Farooq Hanif) (SDLF LN, OW, PT 975p), United Kingdom

Key investor debates: regular buybacks, a “right to win” in retail, and recurring management actions

Following our recent upgrade of Standard Life to OW on the back of the proposed Aegon UK acquisition, the strategic rationale

of the deal - substantial synergies, scale in UK workplace pensions, and the elimination of debt leverage concerns - appears

broadly understood. However, our discussions with investors have identified three key debates: the scale of capital returns,

whether Standard Life has a genuine "right to win" in UK retail savings, and the durability of recurring management actions

underpinning cash generation. We take a constructive view on all three. We now assume a recurring £200mn share buyback

from 2027E, and 5% nominal dividend CAGR (~7% DPS CAGR). We raise EPS by ~3–4.5% over 2028E–30E, with our

operating profit forecasts now 8–10% ahead of Bloomberg consensus for 2027E–28E, and lift our price target to 975p (from

950p).

Japan Equity Strategy (Rie Nishihara), Japan

Ongoing stock rally driven by earnings: Raising price targets to 75,000 for Nikkei 225 and 4,400 for

TOPIX

With earnings-driven stock rally to continue in 2H 2026, raise our 2026 year-end targets to 75,000 for Nikkei 225 and