Stanchart Revenue Grows ‘Slightly’ on Gains in Africa, Hong Kong

By Stephanie Tong & Howard Mustoe

Standard Chartered Plc (STAN), the U.K.’s second-largest bank by market value, said revenue grew “slightly” in the first quarter, helped by increases of 10 percent or more in Africa and Hong Kong.

Growth in those regions “was offset by a weaker performance in Korea and Singapore,” the London-based lender said in a statement today, without giving specific figures. Operating profit fell “slightly” from a year earlier, the bank said. The lender is alone among Britain’s five biggest banks in not disclosing detailed quarterly earnings. Chief Executive Officer Peter Sands, 51, is trying to increase revenue by at least 10 percent a year, keeping cost growth at at a similar pace, as the lender hires and opens branches in China and Africa. Standard Chartered, which gets most of its profit from Asia, last year reached a $667 million settlement with U.S. regulators over allegations the bank violated sanctions with Iran.

“The Group had a very strong start to the year in January, but momentum slowed later in the quarter,” the bank said in the statement. “We have started the second quarter well with April income back at trend levels” and the bank is “comfortable” with the consensus estimate of pretax profit.

To contact the reporters on this story: Stephanie Tong in Hong Kong atstong17@bloomberg.net; Howard Mustoe in London at hmustoe@bloomberg.net

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