Standard Chartered said yesterday that its push into Asia, Africa and the Middle East had fueled a profits surge at the emerging markets bank despite a jump in bad debts caused by the credit crunch.
Standard Chartered, Britain’s fourth-biggest retail bank by market value, said in an earnings statement that net profit jumped 32 percent to US$1.844 billion in the first six months of the year compared with the same period a year earlier.
“These would be great results in any year; this year, they are exceptional,” bank chairman Mervyn Davies said in the statement.
“We have a strong and sustainable business, guided by a clear and consistent strategy and we enter the second half in good shape,” he said.
Standard Chartered said the rise in profits came despite a 35 percent jump in impairment charges, or loans written off, to US$491 million in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year.
While other global banks are posting hefty losses, Standard said it was succeeding thanks to its push into Asia, Africa and the Middle East — markets that are not directly affected by the “liquidity crunch” in the West.
“However our markets are being affected by inflation, high energy and commodity prices and the ... consequences of the slowdown in the West,” the bank said in its results statement.
Chief executive Peter Sands said the bank was “strongly positioned to weather the economic uncertainties and superbly placed to capture opportunities.”
Standard said its pre-tax profits had jumped by 31 percent to US$2.586 billion and income by a third to US$6.987 billion in the first half.
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