Standard Chartered shares jump after earnings beat and dividend hike
(Alliance News) - Standard Chartered PLC on Wednesday celebrated a "record first half performance" as it hiked its dividend and announced a new share buyback programme.
Standard Chartered shares were up 5.2% at HKD234.40 each on Wednesday afternoon in Hong Kong.
The London-based Asia-focused bank now expects operating income growth year-on-year for 2026 around the middle of its 5% to 7% range at constant currency and excluding "material notable items". It previously expected growth towards the lower end of the range.
First half pretax profit rose 9.1% to USD4.78 billion from USD4.38 billion, with operating income climbing 6.4% to USD11.60 billion from USD10.91 billion.
In the second quarter alone, pretax profit rose 2.4% to USD2.33 billion from USD2.28 billion, and beating the company-cited consensus of USD2.07 billion.
Operating income was 3.2% higher at USD5.70 billion from USD5.53 billion, beating the consensus of USD5.55 billion by 2.8%.
In the first half, net interest income fell 1.4% to USD3.00 billion from USD3.04 billion, while adjusted net interest income rose 4.4% to USD5.74 billion from USD5.55 billion.
In the second quarter, adjusted net interest income rose 6.3% to USD2.87 billion from USD2.70 billion, beating the consensus of USD2.84 billion.
The lender noted "ongoing interest rate headwinds".
The common equity tier 1 ratio was 14.2% as at June 30, similar to 14.3% a year prior.
Standard Chartered announced a dividend of 20.4 US cents per share for the first half, up 66% from 12.3c a year prior. Further, it announced a USD1.0 billion share buyback programme starting imminently, following a USD1.5 billion share buyback programme in the first half of 2026.
"We delivered a record first-half performance in 2026, with double-digit growth in Wealth Solutions and Global Banking. Our performance demonstrates the strength of our differentiated international network and the disciplined execution of our strategy. Clients continue to turn to us to facilitate trade, investment and wealth flows across the world's most dynamic markets.
"We delivered a 17% increase in our earnings per share, and our upgraded income guidance and new share buyback of USD1.0 billion reflect our confidence in the business," Chief Executive Bill Winters said.
Standard Chartered expects the world economy to grow by 3.4% in 2026, and to improve to 3.5% growth in 2027. This is lower than the average of 3.7% growth for the 10 years prior to the Covid pandemic, for the years between 2010 and 2019.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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