Standard Chartered more than doubled its profit for 2021, though the Asia-focused British lender fell short of analyst forecasts.
Standard Chartered posted $3.3 billion of pre-tax profit in 2021, more than double of 2020’s $1.6 billion.
Although the bank registered just flat operating income and expenses – $14.7 billion (0.4 percent decrease) and $10.4 billion (2.3 percent increase) respectively – it saw a significant improvement in credit impairments.
Provisions for loan losses fell 89 percent to $254 million.
The $3.3 billion in profit fell short of the average estimate of $3.8 billion, according to the bank’s compilation of 16 analysts.
Asia Focus
The bank also registered growth in Asia, where it generates the vast majority of its profits.
The region posted a pre-tax profit increase of 11 percent to $3.1 billion, accounting for nearly 80 percent of the bank’s global pre-tax profit.
The long-term fundamentals of the markets in which we operate have not changed. These markets, notably China and other markets in Asia, will drive future global economic growth over the coming decades,» said Standard Chartered group chief executive Bill Winters. «We are confident we have the right strategy to capture the opportunities that will arise from those trends, and we can see evidence that it is working.»
