StanChart lifts full-year targets after quarterly profit trounces forecasts

HONG KONG/LONDON, Oct 28 : Standard Chartered (StanChart) on Wednesday hiked its income and profitability targets after third-quarter profit handily beat estimates with robust performances from its wealth and global markets divisions.

It lifted its full-year income growth target for 2026 to above 7 per cent from its earlier estimate in the middle of a 5-7 per cent range. And it also boosted its return on tangible equity target, a key performance gauge, to above 14 per cent from an earlier forecast of exceeding 12 per cent.

The bank's Hong Kong-listed shares extended gains to be up 5.4 per cent after the results.

StanChart, which earns most of its revenue in Asia and Africa, said pretax profit for the July-September quarter surged 27 per cent to $2.25 billion, ahead of a consensus of $1.99 billion drawn from analyst estimates compiled by the bank.

Like European peers, StanChart has had a run of strong performances, but its guidance for returns of 14 per cent in 2026 versus the 17 per cent expected by rival HSBC shows StanChart still has room to improve.

StanChart's wealth division delivered a third consecutive record quarter, with income up 26 per cent, supported by broad-based momentum across products and geographies, the bank said.

The bank has accelerated its wealth expansion plan, aiming to gain net new money inflows of $200 billion between 2025 and 2028, ahead of its original 2029 target.

Its fee-based revenue, less sensitive to rate changes, surged 19 per cent to $2.81 billion in the quarter from a year earlier, ahead of an average estimate of $2.68 billion.