StanChart resumes dividend, announces buyback as profits rise

Standard Chartered reported a rise in first-half profits and said it was resuming dividends against an improving economic backdrop.

The bank made pre-tax profits of $1.15bn in the second quarter, up 55% year on year and beating consensus analyst estimates of $1.1bn. For the first half of the year, StanChart reported pre-tax profits of $2.56bn, a 57% jump from the same period in 2020.

It also announced a $250m share buyback and said it would pay an interim dividend of 3 cents per share.

The results were boosted by a record first half for StanChart's wealth management business, which reported a 23% rise in income. It also released $47m in bad debt provisions set aside to cover the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic is uneven and volatile, though encouragingly the trends we see as we exit the quarter are more positive in our bigger markets," StanChart said on Tuesday, adding that it expected full-year income to be similar to that achieved last year on a constant currency basis and to return to medium-term guidance of 5-7% growth from 2022.

"Excluding the impact of any unforeseeable events we expect credit impairment to remain low for the remainder of the year."