Standard Chartered gets a tongue-lashing from its boss as share price plummets
Shares in emerging markets lender Standard Chartered plummeted over six per cent this morning after its chief exec called his company out for a performance that was "not yet acceptable".
The figures
Third quarter revenues were slightly down at $3.5bn from $3.6bn in the year before and identical to the second quarter.
Operating profits were also similar at $1.1bn, down from $1.2bn.
Underlying profits before tax were $458m, similar to the previous quarter and considerably better than the losses made of $139m in the same quarter last year.
Nevertheless, the firm was hit with restructuring costs of $141m that meant statutory profits were $153m – down from the $304m in the second quarter.
Why its interesting
The latest round of restructuring costs takes the total pain Standard Chartered has endured to $2.1bn since November last year. The lender said that the total restructuring costs it expects to incur will top $3bn, some of which will be spent after 2016.
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Loan impairments fell by five per cent to $596m. Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets said: "Management highlighting still elevated loan impairments and expectations for markets to remain challenging is a message investors don’t want to hear."
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The lender also made reference to a legal matter where the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission is planning to take action against one of Standard Chartered's Hong Kong subsidiaries regarding its role as joint sponsor of an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2009.
"If it does take action there may be financial consequences [for the Hong Kong subsidiary]," the bank revealed it its statement.
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What Standard Chartered said
Chief executive Bill Winters said:
We have made progress executing the strategic actions announced a year ago. We now have a stronger balance sheet, reduced concentrations and are becoming more efficient, but income and profit levels are not yet acceptable.
Putting our clients' needs back at the heart of everything will improve our performance.