Standard Chartered (StanChart) announced a fresh $1.3 billion share buyback as it reported second-quarter earnings that beat expectations amid the tumult caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariff war.
The London-headquartered bank said Thursday that it would repurchase $1.3 billion of its own stock as part of a plan to return at least $8 billion to shareholders between 2024 and 2026. It had earlier announced a $1.5 billion buyback in February.
Adjusted pretax profit of $2.4 billion for the three months through June 30 came in above the $1.9 billion Bloomberg-compiled consensus estimate.
READ MORE: StanChart announces $500 million share buyback, 19% profit jump
“Every part of our cross-border business is booming,” Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “All the leading indicators — new clients, new money, clients putting that money to work — is exactly what we’d hoped for.”
The lender’s traders reaped a windfall, with operating income for the division jumping 47 percent in the second quarter as the bank benefited from “heightened market volatility” which led to elevated client activity, it said.
Its wealth solutions unit also performed strongly, with revenue rising 20 percent in the quarter after the bank lured $28 billion of affluent net new money in the first six months of the year.
The results helped Standard Chartered lift its guidance for the year — operating income is now likely to increase at least 5 percent in 2025. Previously the company had said it would be below a range of 5 percent to 7 percent growth.
Like its larger rival HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered is in the midst of its own $1.5 billion cost-cutting drive it calls “Fit for Growth.” Its goal is to make the bank more efficient and the plan includes dozens of initiatives aimed at reducing expenses, ranging from a couple of hundred thousand to tens of millions of dollars.
About half the costs of Fit for Growth are expected to fall this year, with further restructuring charges coming from property and infrastructure, as well as the shuttering or exit of non-core businesses.
The latest results follow Winters’ 10th anniversary as CEO last month. His tenure has been a roller coaster ride with several waves of reorganization that have involved thousands of job cuts and a dramatic paring back in risk as part of his turnaround plan.
READ MORE: StanChart raises forecasts, trumpets $1b buyback as profit jumps 28%
“We’re investing significantly to simplify everything we do,” Winters said. “The cost-cutting element is what we’ve been doing for my entire 10 years at the bank.”
Earlier this year, shares in the bank finally rose above the £10.41 level last seen on Winters’ first day in the job and have continued to climb since. They, however, suffered a dip in the immediate aftermath of the so-called “Liberation Day” tariff announcement by Trump in early April.
The stock last traded at about £13.70 in London, up more than 30 percent this year.
