Standard Chartered’s profits tumble

The Asia-focused bank also said it would target a further $400m (£248m) in cost reductions for 2015.

“While some of these actions will impact near term performance, they are crucial to getting us back to a trajectory of sustainable, profitable growth,” Chief executive Peter Sands said in a statement. Operating profit for the July to September quarter fell to $1.5bn from $1.8bn in the same period a year ago.

StanChart said it now expected underlying profits in the second half to be lower than the same period last year, partly due to a higher UK bank tax and regulatory and restructuring costs.

It had previously said it expected profits to fall in 2014 for a second straight year, but that earnings in the second half would be higher than a year ago. The lender has been hit by losses in South Korea and other challenges including a slowdown in growth in many of its core emerging markets and weak trading activity.