Standard Chartered 2018 profits rise

Standard Chartered's pre-tax profit surged to $3.9 billion in 2018, the bank said yesterday, after previously warning it had set aside nearly $1 billion for regulatory fines in the US and Britain.

The UK-based bank has been stalked for years by probes on both sides of the Atlantic including over alleged violations of United States sanctions against Iran, investigations related to foreign exchange trading and financial crime control breaches.

Last week the bank

said it had put aside $900 million to deal with those probes, the first time it had put a figure on the penalties and an attempt to draw a line under the issue ahead of its earnings report.

Yesterday filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange, the emerging markets lender said its pre-tax profit was up 28 per cent at $3.9 billion.

But that figure dropped to $2.5 billion "after provision for regulatory matters and restructuring and other items" were taken out, a rise of 5.5 per cent on 2017's results.

The headline profit was some $120 million lower than a consensus forecast compiled by the bank, Bloomberg News reported. But analyst Dickie Wong of Kingston Securities said the earnings were "in line with expectations".

Standard Chartered has been bracing for a possible US fine related to past dealings with Iran dating back as far as the late 2000s.

 

Standard Chartered 2018 profits rise

Standard Chartereds pre-tax profit surged to $3.9 billion in 2018, the bank said yesterday, after previously warning it had set aside nearly $1 billion for regulatory fines in the US and Britain. The UK-based bank has been stalked for years by probes on both sides of the Atlantic including over alleged violations of United States sanctions against Iran, investigations related to foreign exchange trading and financial crime control breaches. Last week the bank said it had put aside $900 million to deal with those probes, the first time it had put a figure on the penalties and an attempt to draw a line under the issue ahead of its earnings report. Yesterday filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange, the emerging markets lender said its pre-tax profit was up 28 per cent at $3.9 billion. But that figure dropped to $2.5 billion after provision for regulatory matters and restructuring and other items were taken out, a rise of 5.5 per cent on 2017s results. The headline profit was some $120 million lower than a consensus forecast compiled by the bank, Bloomberg News reported. But analyst Dickie Wong of Kingston Securities said the earnings were in line with expectations. Standard Chartered has been bracing for a possible US fine related to past dealings with Iran dating back as far as the late 2000s.