Standard Chartered's Q1 Profit Jumps 21%

Standard Chartered on Wednesday said first-quarter profit jumped 21 percent, beating expectations, as rising interest rates buoyed income from its cash management and retail banking businesses.

Chief Executive Bill Winters said he now expects income for the emerging markets-focused lender to grow around 10 percent this year, the top of a previously guided range.

The earnings update showed how rising central bank rates have boosted revenue, as StanChart charged borrowers more interest while not passing all of the increase to depositors.

It also followed resilience at US banks which reported results earlier this month, as the sector weathers a global confidence crisis following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse Group AG.

StanChart, which earns most of its revenue in Asia, said January-March pretax profit reached US$1.81 billion, above US$1.49 billion a year earlier and beating the US$1.43 billion average of 14 analyst estimates compiled by the bank.

It was StanChart's largest first-quarter profit in nine years despite its biggest income earner – financial markets trading – seeing weaker activity compared with last year when markets experienced record volatility.

The bank's shares edged up 0.3 percent in London, outperforming a sagging STOXX European banks index, which fell nearly 1 percent.

"All-in, we see this as a solid set of results, and would expect a broadly neutral share price reaction," analysts at Goldman Sachs said.

Standard Chartered said income in its corporate cash management business tripled due to "strong pricing discipline and passthrough rate management".

Retail banking income rose 53 percent, propelled by deposit income which tripled to US$771 million. (Reuters)