StanChart to see profits grow by 10pc
STANDARD Chartered confirmed it will see double-digit profit growth this year of at least 10 per cent, helped by a strong performance in emerging markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong.
However, the bank said that although it had “a strong pipeline in difficult market conditions”, income in 2011 is now expected to grow at just below 10 per cent, compared with 11 per cent in the first half of the year.
The bank’s results are a stark contrast to its other UK-based rivals, which are all seeing earnings hit hard by the Eurozone crisis.
But Standard Chartered has not escaped entirely: it said that the debt crisis had slowed deal activity in some key Asian markets and caused problems in India and Korea.
A depreciation in Asian currencies has hurt income, which is reported in US dollars, while India and South Korea continued to perform poorly.
The bank’s London-listed shares dipped 1.4 per cent yesterday to close at £14.34. Its Hong Kong shares were down 1.2 per cent.
“The shine has come off a little with the foreign exchange translation. But it’s still a very good story, you’ve got the combination of growth with capital strength and liquidity,” said Mike Trippitt, an analyst at Oriel Securities.