Rising interest rates helped Standard Chartered post its highest quarterly profit since before a tumultuous period for the Asia-focused bank that began nine years ago.
The business made $1.7 billion (£13.7 billion) “as the group continues to benefit from rising interest rates”, making its best result since the first quarter of 2014.
Within six months of those 2014 results, Standard Chartered issued two profit warnings amid a slowdown in emerging economies from which it took years to recover, cutting thousands of jobs in the process.
CEO Bill Winters noted the success this year came despite wider uncertainty around the banking sector, following the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse.
“Business performance continues to improve across our markets and products and has been achieved in what continues to be an uncertain environment,” he said.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said that rather than wider banking sector headwinds, Standard Chartered is experiencing a boost from Chinese reopening after lockdowns.
“The shares rallied Asia after the release of the figures, despite ongoing worries over US regional banks after another collapse in First Republic’s share price and wider macroeconomic concerns, but if anything, right now, Standard Chartered is enjoying a macro tailwind thanks to the reopening of China and Hong Kong after three years of lockdowns,” he said.
The lender now expects income for the year to rise by 10%, on the upper end of its previous expectations.
It also plans to return $5 billion to shareholders by 2024, having already announced a $1 billion buyback after its annual results.
Shares are up slightly to 623.8p today. They had jumped as high as 790.8p in February following reports of a potential takeover by First Abu Dhabi Bank, but fell back to earth when the Middle Easternn lender said it was not considering an offer.
