Standard Chartered Achieves Strong Market Forecasts with US$931 Million Net Profit

Market Performance Analysis

Standard Chartered, one of Hong Kong's three currency-issuing banks, reported better-than-expected profit for the third quarter, driven by its wealth management and global banking units.

Financial Highlights

• 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 reported US$1.7 billion in pre-tax profit, exceeding the US$1.5 billion forecast by analysts.
• Operating income, comparable to revenue, rose 11 percent to US$4.9 billion.

CEO Insights and Growth Strategy

“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,” said CEO Bill Winters.

Winters highlighted plans to double investments in the consistently fast-growing and high-returning wealth management business, while continuing to reshape its mass retail services to cater to future affluent and international banking clients.

Shareholder Distribution Plans

Operating income for the bank’s wealth solutions business rose 32 percent to US$694 million. Global markets’ operating income rose 16 percent to US$840 million.

Winters announced a significant increase in shareholder distribution targets, raising the dividends and buy-backs goal to at least US$8 billion from US$5 billion for the period spanning 2024 to 2026.

Standard Chartered shares fell 0.2 percent to HK$88.00 before its earnings report was released.