Standard Chartered posts record H1 net profit

Standard Chartered on Wednesday said its first-half net profit rose 12 percent to a record high thanks to strong revenue growth, despite an increasingly challenged economic environment.

The Asia-focused emerging market bank’s net profit for the six months to June 30 rose to $2.81 billion compared to $2.52 billion in the same period in 2011, it said in a statement. The result is above the average forecast of US$2.7 billion, according to a poll by Dow Jones Newswires.

Revenue rose to $9.51 billion from $8.76 billion a year earlier. Chief Executive Peter Sands said the lender was “on course to deliver on its target of double-digit revenue growth” despite the US dollar’s strength against Asian currencies and an “increasingly complex regulatory environment”.