Standard Chartered to focus on wealth business, sell units after upbeat earnings

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Net profit for the June to September period handily beat analysts’ estimates of US$886 million

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London-based Standard Chartered generates much of its earnings in Asia. Photo: Reuters

Mia Castagnone

Published: 1:02pm, 30 Oct 2024Updated: 3:42pm, 30 Oct 2024

Standard Chartered, one of Hong Kong’s three currency-issuing banks, plans to bolster its wealth management business and sell its underperforming units after reporting better-than-expected profit for the third quarter.

Net profit for the three months to September came in at US$931 million under international accounting rules, beating forecasts of US$886 million.

The London-based bank, which generates much of its income in Asia, reported US$1.7 billion in pre-tax profit, exceeding the US$1.5 billion forecast by analysts. Operating income, which is similar to revenue in US accounting terms, rose 11 per cent to US$4.9 billion.

“We have delivered a strong performance in the third quarter driven by a record quarter in wealth solutions and strong growth in our global markets business,” CEO Bill Winters said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday.

“We are doubling investments in our consistently fast-growing and high-returning wealth management business, and we will continue to reshape our mass retail business to focus on developing our pipeline of future affluent and international banking clients.”

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters said the bank had a record quarter in its wealth solutions unit and strong growth in the global markets business. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Operating income for the bank’s wealth solutions business rose 32 per cent to US$694 million, supported by continued strong momentum and an increase in affluent new clients. Global markets’ operating income rose 16 per cent to US$840 million.