The UK-listed bank, which earns the bulk of its income in Asia, said wealth management income slipped in the first six months of the year from a year ago, but underlying momentum was positive.

Standard Chartered,
which earns the bulk of its revenue in the Asia-Pacific region, logged
wealth management income of $639 million in the six months to 30 June
this year, down from $657 million a year earlier but up from $615
million in the six months to end-December last year.

Market uncertainty hit sales of equity-related wealth management
products, although this was partly offset by growth in bancassurance and
fixed income products, the firm said in a statement today.

The wealth management business of Standard Chartered sits within the
consumer banking division. That division made a total operating profit
of $899 million in the latest six-month period, down from $1.013 billion
a year earlier.

Commenting on the figures, Peter Sands, chief executive, said that
underlying performance of consumer banking, and especially wealth
management, has been encouraging.

“And then if you look underneath that at the momentum in some of the
key businesses that we're building - for example, in private banking -
we had strong double-digit growth,” he said.

For the banking group as a whole, it logged a pre-tax profit of
$3.948 billion, up 9 per cent from $3.636 billion a year ago. It
reported a profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of $2.806
billion, up 12 per cent from $2.516 billion a year earlier.

At the end of last year, StanChart had a Core Tier 1 capital ratio at 11.6 per cent.

“Standard Chartered has performed strongly during the first six
months of 2012. Set against a macro-economic environment that is
increasingly challenged, we have continued to deliver consistent good
returns. We have a firm grip on the business, with the ability to turn
adversity to our advantage, and we will keep investing as we see
long-term opportunities for growth,” Sir John Peace, chairman, said in a
statement.