Home Corporate News How We Posted Record $1.31bn Pre-Tax Profit – Standard Chartered

How We Posted Record $1.31bn Pre-Tax Profit – Standard Chartered

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Standard Chartered Bank

Standard Chartered (Africa and Middle East)’s $1.31bn profit before tax for the 2023 financial year has broken a decade-long record.

In a statement from the financial institution on Monday, the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered AME, Sunil Kaushal, said it was a milestone driven by the bank’s commitment to customers’ success.

He said, “Our achievement of $1.31bn in annual profit for Africa and the Middle East, the highest in a decade, is a testament to the bank’s continued dedication to client success and strategic growth initiatives. We remain committed to connecting global markets and providing clients with valuable investment opportunities and solutions, further solidifying our position as the Group’s fastest-growing region.”

The group’s  2023 Strategic Report unveiled solid growth fundamentals for Standard Chartered based on a set of diverse metrics, including significant percentage rise in operating income,  substantial profit before tax increase, strong border income growth, widened loan net, leadership in transition to net zero goal and improved cost-to-income ratio.

An analysis of the bank’s figure showed that profit before tax grew by 66 per cent to $1.31bn, the highest annual profit since 2015, driven by higher income and a net release in credit provisions partially offset by an increase in expenses.

Operating income rose by 14 per cent to $2.81bn supported by strong growth in cash management, retail deposits and financial markets.

Income was up by 29 per cent in the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and up one per cent in Africa.

The bank said that it widened its loan and advances net, with loans to customers up by eight per cent year-on-year and customer accounts up by four per cent since December 31, 2022, just as risk-weighted assets were six per cent than the previous year despite the impact of sovereign downgrades.

Credit impairment net release of $91m in FY23 compared to $119m charge in 2022 reflected a non-repeat of the prior year’s sovereign-related impairments and releases relating to historic CCIB provisions.

The bank also recorded strong cross-border income growth of 39 per cent with broad-based growth across key corridors.

The drive to further embed international banking propositions and activate a diverse footprint across Africa and the Middle East resulted in more than 150 per cent growth in the priority banking client base across international banking corridors for Africa and the Middle East.

In 2023, Standard Chartered exited several markets in Africa after agreeing to sell its shareholding in its subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia and Sierra Leone to Access Bank.

The deal also saw Access Bank acquire Standard Chartered Bank’s consumer, private and business banking business in Tanzania.

The bank said that the select sale of its operations in Sub-Saharan Africa was in line with its wider global strategy of “achieving operational efficiencies, reducing complexity and driving scale.”

Credit: punchng.com

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