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Standard Chartered second-quarter profit rises 54%, unveils US$1.3 billion share buy-back

Standard Chartered second-quarter profit rises 54%, unveils US$1.3 billion share buy-back

Standard Chartered said on Thursday its second-quarter net profit rose 54 per cent from a year earlier, driven by strong growth in cross-border trades and wealth businesses that offset rising bad debt, as it unveiled a US$1.3 billion share repurchase plan.
Net profit for the April-to-June quarter rose to US$1.8 billion, or 72.5 US cents a share, from US$1.17 billion a year earlier, the bank said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The result exceeded an analysts' consensus estimate of US$1.33 billion that was compiled by the bank.
The London-based bank, which generates most of its business from Asia, said its pre-tax underlying profit for the period rose 34 per cent from a year earlier to US$2.4 billion, beating a consensus estimate of US$1.9 billion.
For the first half, net profit rose 41 per cent to US$3.07 billion from US$2.17 billion a year earlier. Analysts expected a profit of US$2.82 billion. The bank announced an interim dividend of 12.3 US cents a share, up 27 per cent from a year earlier.
Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters. Photo: Jonathan Wong
'Our strong first-half performance reflects continued successful execution of our strategy, through our focus on cross-border and affluent banking,' CEO Bill Winters said in the statement.
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