StanChart eyes tenth record year, new hires
Standard Chartered is stepping up hiring and investment to take advantage of rivals retreating from its core Asian markets, after a strong first six months set it up for a 10th straight year of record profits.
The London-based bank plans to add 1,000 to 1,500 jobs and increase investment spending by about $100 million (£64m) in the second half of 2012, its finance director Richard Meddings said today.
The bank has ridden on Asia’s rise through the last decade, allowing it to continue hiring and posting earnings growth when much of the industry was shrinking.
StanChart said its pretax profit in the six months to the end of June was $3.95bn, up 9 per cent from a restated $3.64bn a year ago. It was above the average forecast of $3.7bn from analysts and in line with the company’s guidance in June.
“The second quarter was very tough for everybody, so for them to achieve such growth is very decent,” said Dominic Chan, an analyst at BNP Paribas in Hong Kong.
Chief executive Peter Sands said recession and problems in western economies had slowed growth in Asia, but he was confident growth in the region would continue, albeit with “some bumps in the road”.