Standard Chartered India profit rises 11% despite shrinking loan book
ADVERTISEMENT Total income increased 6% to $795 million in June 2025 from $753 million in June 2024, half yearly results released by the bank on Thursday showed. Operating expenses remained little changed at $442 million versus $440 million a year ago.
The bank's loan book in India shrunk 8% to $13.61 billion from $14.79 billion a year ago. Deposits also shrunk to $25.26 billion from $27.26 billion a year ago. Total impairment costs increased 43% to $20 million from $14 million a year ago.
India was the third largest contributor to the bank's global contributor behind Hong Kong ($1.44 billion) and Singapore ($798 million). This is an improvement from the fifth place the bank occupied behind the US and UAE at the end of 2024.Globally the bank reported a 26% increase in first-half pretax profit, driven by growth in the bank's wealth and markets businesses. The London-headquartered lender's pretax profit for the first six months of this year hit $4.38 billion, better than the $3.83 billion analysts had forecast. Total income was helped by a $238 million gain on the sale of B2B marketplace Solv India to Jumbotail last month. Solv India was incubated by Standard Chartered Ventures.
(You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Mint
25 minutes ago
- Mint
How AU Small Finance Bank's Sanjay Aggarwal passed RBI's muster
Mumbai: Sanjay Agarwal, the latest winner of the central bank's rare universal bank licence, may have inadvertently ticked the right boxes on his path to glory. On Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India issued an 'in-principle' approval for Agarwal's AU Small Finance Bank to transition into a universal bank, making it the first full-fledged banking licence issued in nearly a decade. The licence positions AU Small Finance Bank on par with India's biggest lenders while handing Agarwal a sought-after calling card as a banker. AU Small Finance Bank, which was founded as a non-bank in 1996 and converted into a small finance bank in 2017, applied to RBI for a universal bank licence in September 2024. Its licence is only the fifth to be granted this century—Kotak Mahindra Bank secured the licence in 2003, followed by Yes Bank in 2004, and Bandhan Bank and IDFC Bank in also the first since RBI began allowing continuous applications for universal bank licences in 2016 under its 'on-tap' guidelines, instead of in phases. Agarwal has succeeded where Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal and Indiabulls failed to make the cut. Those aware of the rigorous process involved will tell you it's easier to milk a bull than get a bank licence out of RBI. Though entrepreneurs seeking a universal bank licence are required to have ₹1,000 crore in hard cash as capital, the regulator abhors entrepreneurs who flaunt money. Also in RBI's negative list are those who exert political or other pressures for a lenient consideration of their application. Entrepreneurs seeking the licence have to bare their finances to the bone, and RBI's forensic scrutiny can be excruciating. A retired RBI deputy governor recounted that a non-banking financial company had hid its promoters' overseas real estate transactions that were done through shell companies. RBI rejected the application. Banker to the poor RBI never offers an explanation for rejecting an application. But the previous two universal bank licences issued show RBI's preference for entrepreneurs enabling a path for money to reach the hands of those who have little of it. In RBI speak: reaching out to the 'unbanked'. Better still if the unbanked who receive money put it to good use to generate more economic activity. The caveat: the entire process should be conducted with some conscience. India has an estimated 190 million without access to formal finance. RBI issued a universal bank licence to Kolkata-headquartered Bandhan Bank primarily because its founder, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, grew his business by giving loans to those who would never qualify for credit in eastern India. Agarwal's story is similar, having built a credible lending business from Jaipur, Rajasthan and steadily expanding it across India over more than two decades. Agarwal, a chartered accountant, started his non-banking finance company as he found few avenues for lending to small businesses in Rajasthan. The state is known for its craftsmanship and tourism—industries that drive small businesses—but Agarwal noticed a dearth in the understanding of credit worthiness. He decided to fill the gap. Over the next decade, the blue and white branding of his non-bank, AU Financier, started appearing across the state. Agarwal's ideas weren't new. He borrowed a leaf from Chennai-based Shriram Group to build a lending business for buying used vehicles. By 2012-13, AU Financier had notched up a loan book of ₹3,704 crore. The transitioning Agarwal familiarised himself with India's banking system early on, which may have won him some brownie points with RBI. He knew banks offered the cheapest source of funds, especially nationalised ones, and that they were happy to lend to other lenders who gave loans to the priority sector. RBI mandates that every bank lend a small percentage of their loans compulsorily to priority sectors such as agriculture and micro, small and medium enterprises. By design, Agarwal focused on lending to priority sectors to secure cheap capital from public sector banks. AU Financiers's lending rates were highly competitive, and it helped the public sector banks it borrowed from achieve their priority sector lending targets—all with RBI's knowledge. After Agarwal got a small finance bank licence in 2015, he kept at what he was doing. His branch network expanded but the new ones came up in smaller cities and towns. In any case, RBI requires small finance banks to have a quarter of their branches in rural areas. If Agarwal did open a branch in a high rent tony neighbourhood, it would be a small outlet meant to garner deposits. Not being opulent in large cities allowed AU Small Finance Bank to retain its image as a bank for the underserved in the eyes of the central bank. On the financial front too, there were no surprises. AU Small Finance Bank's income and profit grew at a steady pace, with the lender largely operating in the microfinance sector that often saw increased scrutiny from RBI. That played a role in passing the regulator's consistency test, which requires five years of good performance as a small finance bank before being considered for a universal bank licence. By default or maybe by design, Agarwal may have just got it right with RBI.
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
4 hours ago
- Business Standard
Kalyan Jewellers Q1 results: PAT jumps 49% to ₹264 cr, revenue up 31%
The company's PAT stood at ₹177.55 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, the Thrissur-headquartered jeweller said in a regulatory filing Its revenue from operations increased 31.48 per cent during the quarter under review to ₹7,268.47 crore compared to ₹5,527.81 crore a year ago. Press Trust of India Mumbai Jewellery retailer Kalyan Jewellers on Thursday reported a 48.73 per cent growth in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) to ₹264.08 crore during the quarter ended June 30. The company's PAT stood at ₹177.55 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, the Thrissur-headquartered jeweller said in a regulatory filing. Its revenue from operations increased 31.48 per cent during the quarter under review to ₹7,268.47 crore compared to ₹5,527.81 crore a year ago. "We have started off the ongoing quarter well despite continuing volatility in gold prices and a higher base. We are upbeat about the upcoming festive season across the country and are gearing up for the launch of fresh collections and campaigns," Kalyan Jewellers India Executive Director Ramesh Kalyanaraman said. Shares of the company on Thursday closed at ₹590.75 apiece, up 0.30 per cent on BSE. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


News18
5 hours ago
- News18
Kalyan Jewellers Q1 PAT rises 48 pc to Rs 264 cr
Agency: PTI Last Updated: Mumbai, Aug 7 (PTI) Jewellery retailer Kalyan Jewellers on Thursday reported a 48.73 per cent growth in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 264.08 crore during the quarter ended June 30. The company's PAT stood at Rs 177.55 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, the Thrissur-headquartered jeweller said in a regulatory filing. Its revenue from operations increased 31.48 per cent during the quarter under review to Rs 7,268.47 crore compared to Rs 5,527.81 crore a year ago. 'We have started off the ongoing quarter well despite continuing volatility in gold prices and a higher base. We are upbeat about the upcoming festive season across the country and are gearing up for the launch of fresh collections and campaigns," Kalyan Jewellers India Executive Director Ramesh Kalyanaraman said. First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.