Pre-tax profit in the six months to the end of June rose 9% to $3.95bn from the same period a year earlier, on revenue that grew 9% as well, to $9.51bn, from $8.76bn.
The bank said it was its tenth consecutive first half of record profits.
“This is another excellent set of results, our tenth consecutive first half of record profits,” chairman John Peace said in a statement accompanying the results, which were released this morning.
“Set against a macro-economic environment that is increasingly challenged, we have continued to deliver consistently good returns.”
The bank, which gets around 90% of its income and profits from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, expects to have 100 branches in both China and India by the time it releases its full-year results early next year, according to group chief executive Peter Sands.
“We opened our 90th branch in Dalian, China, last week,” he noted.
In India, we now have 94 branches – considerably more than any other international bank – and also expect to hit the 100 mark there by the same time. At that point we will be present in 43 cities across India.
“In Africa, where we currently have 183 branches in 14 markets, we are also significantly stepping up the pace of network expansion, and anticipate that we will have some 250 branches within the next couple of years.”
Standard Chartered’s performance is in contrast to that of many of its rivals, such as HSBC, which have been cutting jobs and disposing of operations.
By mid-morning in London, shares in Standard Chartered were up around 3.65%, to 1,518p. They have risen more than 6% thus far this year.
To see the full set of results on the Standard Chartered website, click here.
