StanChart has a silver lining says Investec
MARKETS have yet to recover from Standard Chartered’s Iranian sanction-breaking scandal, and so are failing to recognise the bank’s underlying strengths, analysts from Investec said yesterday.
Although the bank’s share price has recovered roughly 30 per cent in the last month, it is still feeling the effects of US regulatory action – even though the worst of that appears to be past, according to analyst Ian Gordon.
Surprise accusations that the bank had broken sanctions in $250bn (£156bn) of transactions with Iran led to Standard Chartered paying the New York state Department of Financial Services $340m.
That settlement did not allocate blame – the bank insists it only broke the rules on $14m of transactions – but was instead aimed at putting an end to the claims that were damaging the bank’s reputation.
But Investec believes markets have not fully recognised that the claims and settlement are now largely in the past.
“Lest we forget, on 1 August Standard Chartered delivered another excellent set of results – a 10th year of record first-half revenues and profits led by stand-out performances in trade and cash management,” said Gordon.