Earning the lion's share of its revenues in regions such as Asia, Standard Chartered produced stronger profits in the first quarter of 2025, with areas such as wealth showing robust momentum.

Standard Chartered has reported pre-tax profit in the first quarter of 2025 of $2.103 billion, rising 10 per cent year-on-year, while profit attributable to shareholders rose 13 per cent to $1.592 billion.

The bank, which earns most of its revenues outside the UK, said operating income rose 5 per cent on a year earlier, at $5.379 billion; operating costs gained 2 per cent, reaching $3.046 billion. Credit impairments widened 32 per cent to $217 million. The cost/income ratio narrowed to 56.6 per cent from 58.4 per cent. The net interest margin rose.

Shares in the bank ended the Friday market session up slightly on the day, at 1,098 pence per share. Since the start of January, they have risen 11.5 per cent. 

The lender’s total Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a standard international measure of a bank’s capital buffer – was 13.8 per cent, up by 25 basis points on a year earlier. 

"We delivered a strong performance in the first quarter of 2025, with earnings per share up 19 per cent, driven by double-digit income growth in wealth solutions, global markets and global banking,” Bill Winters, CEO, said. “The subsequent imposition of trade tariffs has increased global economic and geopolitical complexity, and we remain watchful of the external environment.”

“Our presence in structurally high-growth markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East is key to driving long-term sustainable value for our shareholders, and we remain focused on reinforcing these competitive advantages to drive future growth,” he said. 

Wealth
In the wealth solutions segment, Standard Chartered said operating income rose 26 per cent year-on-year in Q1 2025 to $777 million, or up 28 per cent on a constant-currency basis. The growth was driven by double-digit growth in investment products and bancassurance, with broad-based growth across markets and products. 

Such progress was driven by continued momentum in affluent new-to-bank onboarding with 72,000 clients onboarded during the first quarter of 2025, and $13 billion of affluent net new money, up 22 per cent benefitting from strong international flows, the bank added.