Operating income for H1 reached $10.9 billion, up 10%
LONDON: Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.L) delivered a powerful set of first-half 2025 results, driven by double-digit income growth in key divisions and record wealth inflows, prompting a significant $1.3 billion share buyback and a 37% dividend hike.
Group Chief Executive Bill Winters declared the performance reflected “continued successful execution of our strategy,” emphasizing the bank’s focus on cross-border banking and affluent clients across its core Asia, Africa, and Middle East network. Underlying earnings per share surged 41% year-on-year for the first half.
Robust Income Growth Across Key Divisions
The bank reported H1 underlying profit before tax of $4.7 billion, up 22% at constant currency (ccy). Second-quarter momentum was particularly strong, with underlying PBT jumping 34% ccy to $2.4 billion.
Operating income for H1 reached $10.9 billion, up 10% ccy (13% excluding notable items). Wealth Solutions led the charge with income soaring 24% ccy, fueled by strong demand for investment products and bancassurance. Global Markets income rose 28% ccy, while Global Banking grew 14% ccy, both benefiting from higher origination and capital markets activity. Q2 saw even sharper rises in Global Markets (47% ccy) and Wealth Solutions (20% ccy), alongside record net new money inflows in the affluent segment.
Strong Capital Returns and Balance Sheet
Buoyed by the performance, StanChart announced an imminent $1.3 billion share buyback, expected to reduce its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio by approximately 50 basis points from its current robust level of 14.3% (up from 13.8% at Q1-end). The interim ordinary dividend per share leaps 37% to 12.3 cents ($288 million total).
Tangible net asset value per share increased $1.19 quarter-on-quarter to $16.80. The bank’s Return on Tangible Equity (RoTE) reached 18.1% for H1, a significant 4 percentage point improvement, and hit 19.7% for Q2.
Disciplined Execution Amidst Investment
The bank maintained a tight grip on costs, with H1 operating expenses up only 4% ccy to $6 billion, despite targeted growth investments and inflation. Credit impairment charges for H1 stood at $336 million, primarily in Wealth & Retail Banking. The loan-loss rate remained low at 12 basis points in Q2, though the bank expects normalization towards 30-35bps over time.
Customer deposits grew 5% since March 2025 to $517 billion, while underlying loans and advances increased modestly. Risk-weighted assets (RWA) rose $6 billion to $260 billion, driven by FX, asset growth, and a sovereign downgrade.
Strategic Focus & Future Outlook
Winters highlighted the strength of StanChart’s unique network in navigating volatile conditions. The bank continues to advance in sustainable finance, mobilizing $136 billion since 2021 towards a $300 billion 2030 target, and is a leader among global banks in digital assets, offering regulated spot trading for Bitcoin and Ether.
Looking ahead, StanChart reiterated its 2025-2026 guidance. It expects operating income growth at constant currency (excluding notable items) around the bottom of its 5-7% CAGR range for 2025, tracking towards the upper end for the 2023-2026 period. It targets operating expenses below $12.3 billion in 2026 and positive income-to-cost jaws annually. The bank plans to return at least $8 billion cumulatively to shareholders between 2024-2026 and sees RoTE approaching 13% in 2026, progressing thereafter.
“Through our unique network… we offer our clients the means to navigate volatile external conditions,” Winters stated. “We’re performing well, while keeping a tight grip on costs, credit risk and capital.”