31st Oct 2018 05:35
LONDON (Alliance News) - Standard Chartered PLC said on Wednesday it saw a rise in profit for the third quarter of 2018, as growth fundamentals remained solid despite geopolitical uncertainties.
For the three months to the end of September, the FTSE 100-listed emerging-markets focused bank reported a pretax profit of USD1.06 billion, up 37% from USD774 million the year before, on an operating income of USD3.72 billion, up 4.0% from USD3.59 billion.
On an underlying basis, pretax profit was USD1.07 billion, up 31% from USD814 million.
On a nine-month basis, pretax profit rose by 35% to USD3.41 billion from USD2.53 billion, while underlying pretax profit increased by 25% to USD3.43 billion from USD2.73 billion the prior year.
Income rose as a result of good growth in Standard Chartered's liability-led businesses,with a strong performance in Cash Management, Wealth Management and Retail Products.
Third-quarter loan impairment charges were reduced by 67% year-on-year to USD115 million from USD348 million on the back of improved credit quality.
The bank's common equity tier 1 ratio amounted to 14.5% at the end of the period, compared to 13.6% at the end of the same period the year before.
"The results for the first nine months of the year reflect our focus on significantly improving profitability, balance sheet quality, conduct and financial returns. Income growth year-on-year was slightly lower in the third quarter impacted by Africa and the Middle East and we remain alert to broader geopolitical uncertainties that have affected sentiment in some of our markets. But growth fundamentals remain solid across our markets and we are cautiously optimistic on global economic growth," said Chief Executive Bill Winters.
Related Shares:
Standard Chartered