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% from its earlier ​estimate in the middle of ⁠a 5-7% range. And it also boosted its return ‌on tangible equity target, ‌a key performance gauge, to above 14% from an ⁠earlier forecast of exceeding 12%.

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

StanChart, which earns most of its revenue in Asia and Africa, said pretax profit for the July-September quarter surged 27% 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% in 2026 versus the 17% 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%, 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% to $2.81 billion ‌in the quarter from ​a year earlier, ahead of an ‌average estimate of $2.68 billion.

(Reporting ⁠by Selena ​Li in Hong Kong and Lawrence White in London; Editing by ​Edwina Gibbs)

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