StanChart misses profit target growth of 10% for H1

Standard Chartered PLC falls a single percent short of its pretax profit target for the first-half of this year.

StanChart said its pretax profit in the first half ending June was US$3.95 billion, up 9% from a restated US$3.64 billion year-on-year. It had targeted a growth of 10%.

The bank's pretax profit growth, however, was the slowest in a decade. Its compound annual growth rate was 20% for the previous nine years.

It has been hard hit by what it described as the economic and political paralysis in India, one of its biggest markets, and by the general slowdown of business throughout Asia.

Its return on equity improved to 13.8% and was on track to hit a target of about 15% in the medium-term. Income growth is expected to equal or slightly exceed cost growth for the full year even after higher investment.

CEO Peter Sands was confident growth in the region would continue despite some bumps in the road that include slower Asian growth on account of the financial turmoil in Western economies.

StanChart will hire more people and invest more to take advantage of rivals retreat from their core Asian markets, after a strong first six months. It intends to add up to 1,500 jobs and increase investment spending by some US$100 million in the second half of this year..