Standard Chartered is spending $1.3 billion to buy back its own shares after reporting quarterly profits that came in far ahead of what analysts were expecting.
The London-based bank made the announcement on Thursday, saying the repurchase is part of a larger plan to return at least $8 billion to shareholders between 2024 and 2026.
The bank had already launched a $1.5 billion buyback earlier this year in February, making this the second major repurchase within six months.
The second-quarter results showed an adjusted pretax profit of $2.4 billion for the three months ending June 30, topping the $1.9 billion estimate tracked by Bloomberg.
Standard Chartered also said its stock had traded at about £13.70 in London by Thursday, showing a gain of over 30% this year, despite taking a hit earlier in April when U.S. President Donald Trump announced new global tariffs under what he called “Liberation Day.”
Clients bring in $16 billion as bank slashes costs
While the profits were up, Standard Chartered also revealed that its wealth division brought in $16 billion in new client assets during the quarter, an all-time high. This cash helped push pre-tax profits up by 44%, compared to the same time last year.
In total, the bank posted $2.3 billion in quarterly profit, higher than both the $1.6 billion it earned last year and the $1.7 billion analysts had predicted.
The bank’s key profitability metric, return on tangible equity, also jumped to 17.9%, beating expectations of 11.7%, and improving from 10.4% in the same quarter a year ago.
At the same time, Standard Chartered is still neck-deep in a $1.5 billion cost-cutting program called “Fit for Growth.” That initiative is focused on making the bank leaner by trimming unnecessary expenses and dumping underperforming operations.
These cost reductions range in size from small fixes worth a few hundred thousand dollars to major moves costing tens of millions.
Around half of the total expected cuts are set to hit this year, with additional charges to follow as the bank continues to shut down non-core businesses, scale down infrastructure, and reduce property costs.
CEO Bill Winters, who just marked his 10-year anniversary running the bank last month, has been driving most of these changes. His tenure hasn’t been quiet.
Over the past decade, Bill has overseen multiple shakeups, rolled out a series of reorganizations, and cut thousands of jobs as part of a broader strategy to reduce risk and get the bank back on track.
He’s also been steering the bank through tricky markets in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, where Standard Chartered has its deepest roots.
“We’re performing well, while keeping a tight grip on costs, credit risk and capital,” Bill said in Thursday’s earnings statement. “Our strong first-half performance reflects continued successful execution of our strategy, through our focus on cross-border and affluent banking.”
He added, “Through our unique network across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, we offer our clients the means to navigate volatile external conditions.”
While the broader banking sector wrestles with rising political risk and the fallout from Trump’s trade war, Standard Chartered is betting that tightening operations and returning cash to investors is the right path forward. For now, it’s staying aggressive on both fronts, by cutting costs and buying back shares, as the environment grows more unpredictable.
