Confident Standard aims to double profit

STANDARD Chartered said it expects to double profit in its core wholesale bank to more than £6bn in the next four to five years as its key Asian markets grow faster than the West and it builds on market share won when its rivals retrenched.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Sep 2012, 07:00 BST

Its rate of growth is expected to slow from its compound annual pace of 23 per cent over the past decade due to the economic slowdown, tougher regulation and scale of its business, but still marks a pace most rivals would envy.

“It’s not unreasonable for us to be looking at a $10bn (operating profit) number (in 2016),” said Mike Rees, head of wholesale banking.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We firmly believe that is not an unreasonable aspiration for us to have if you look at the potential,” he added, referring to the countries the bank works in and the size of the wholesale banking revenue pool, estimated to grow at more than double GDP growth.

London-based Standard Chartered’s wholesale banking business, which houses its investment banking and includes trade financing, corporate lending, foreign exchange and M&A advisory, accounts for more than three-quarters of its profit and has underpinned strong growth in the past decade.

The unit made a record $5.2 bn profit last year – driving group profit to a record $6.8bn – up from $800m in 2002.

Its profit has typically doubled every three years, and Mr Rees said in a presentation to analysts and investors yesterday that he expects it to double again by 2016.

Related topics:StandardLondon