Standard Chartered PLC, a British bank that generates the majority of earnings in Asia, said it posted “very strong” profit and revenue in the first quarter owing to improved performance at its consumer and corporate units.
Profit was “higher” than in the first quarter of last year, the London-based company said in a statement yesterday. It didn’t provide a figure for earnings.
Standard Chartered plans to raise as much as US$750 million by selling its stock in India, which last year became the second of its markets after Hong Kong to post US$1 billion in profit. The bank follows JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc and UBS AG in reporting rising profit for the first three months of the year.
The bank “has had a very strong start to the year, despite margin headwinds and increasing competitive pressures, with a record quarter in terms of both profit and income,” the statement said.
Standard Chartered’s net income rose to US$3.38 billion last year from US$3.24 billion in 2008, driven by corporate banking revenue.
The bank had “double-digit growth” in its consumer banking unit, adding secured loans and savings accounts, Standard Chartered said yesterday.
Wealth management revenue improved in Hong Kong, India and Singapore, the bank said.
The consumer unit had an “incremental improvement in loan impairment” and corporate banking had “no material new impairments charged in the period,” the bank said.
The bank is also hiring 500 employees in Hong Kong to increase revenue from private banking.
Costs increased at a faster rate than revenue in corporate banking as the company added employees in the second half of last year, Standard Chartered said.
The bank is adding analysts and traders in India and South Korea and also generates revenue from trade finance, payments and directly related foreign exchange hedging, it said.
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