Standard Chartered (LON: STAN), the London-headquartered bank focused on Asia, Africa and the Middle East, saw its shares jump around 5% on Wednesday after first-half profit beat forecasts and management raised full-year guidance while launching a $1bn share buyback.
The stock traded up to an intraday high of 2205p, having opened at 2200p after Tuesday’s close of 2097p, a rise of as much as 5.05%. That leaves the shares just below their 52-week high of 2278p, set on 24 June, and far above their 52-week low of 1256p.
Standard Chartered reported half-year pretax profit of $4.78bn, beating the $4.52bn analyst consensus and up from $4.38bn a year earlier, according to Reuters. The bank raised its full-year 2026 income growth guidance to the middle of its 5-7% target range, having previously guided towards the bottom of that range. It also announced a $1bn share buyback and lifted its interim dividend to 20.4 cents per share, up from 12 cents a year earlier.
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The earnings beat was driven by a 38% jump in wealth management income, as clients bought more investment products and opened new accounts during a volatile period for markets. That growth helped push group pretax profit up roughly 9% year-on-year. Alongside the results, management raised guidance and announced the $1bn buyback and higher dividend.
Group Chief Executive Bill Winters said: “Clients continue to turn to us to facilitate trade, investment and wealth flows across the world’s most dynamic markets.”
The shares have now recovered from a 52-week low of 1256p to trade close to their June peak, as the wealth management business becomes a larger contributor to group earnings.
