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Investing.com -- Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) stock climbed 4% today following the announcement of a new $1.5 billion share buyback and an 18% increase in annual profit, buoyed by a standout performance in its wealth business and markets division.
The bank, which focuses on Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, has seen its shares reach a nearly decade high, signaling investor confidence in its strategic emphasis on wealth management and markets business. This comes amidst a challenging global growth outlook and varying interest rate policies that are expected to impact Western banks.
Standard Chartered’s CEO, Bill Winters, highlighted the company’s unique position to capitalize on the anticipated higher growth rates in its key markets compared to global growth.
The bank’s Hong Kong-listed shares reflected this optimism, closing at HK$116 ($14.93), the highest level since July 2015 and outperforming the market benchmark index, which was also up 4%.
For the fiscal year 2024, the London-based lender reported a pretax profit of $6 billion, an increase from $5.1 billion in the previous year, though slightly missing the $6.2 billion average forecast by analysts.
Despite the slight miss, the bank’s overall financial performance and aggressive share buyback initiative have been well-received by the market, as evidenced by the stock’s positive movement.
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