Standard Chartered’s first-half profit jumps 31pc as turnaround under new CEO pays off
The bank said that it had double-digit pre-tax profit gains in its corporate and institutional business, as well as in retail banking
Standard Chartered said that ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China had the potential to cut into its revenue, but the bank had not seen “any impact at all” at this point as it reported upbeat first-half results on Tuesday.
At a press conference in Hong Kong, José Viñals, Standard Chartered’s chairman, said that the bank estimates that the direct impact of the trade dispute on its revenue would potentially be about 1 per cent. If the trade tensions spread to other countries that are part of the China supply chain, the impact could be as much as 3 per cent, he said.
“I do hope for the good of the world that these trade frictions can be contained, that they can be mutually resolved and that they do not escalate into full-blown trade protectionism, which I think would be very bad news for the world,” Viñals said.
Standard Chartered could potentially benefit if China were to trade less with the US and more with other countries in its footprint, Viñals said.
“That could actually generate extra income that could be a positive factor for us,” Viñals said.