Standard Chartered Bank, one of UK’s top lender said its business across Africa & Middle East region performed worse than it expected on a quarterly basis.
Income from the Africa & Middle East fell from USD709 million in 2016 to USD686 million in the first quarter of the year.
This represents a 3% year on year fall compared to
Standard Chartered said the result was impacted by local currency depreciation in Africa and lower Financial Markets income in the Middle East, which was only partly offset by improved margins and higher balances in Cash Management. Income improved 5 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2016 due to better performance in Wealth Management and Financial Markets.
This is a huge contract to Greater China & North Asia where income growth was 8% or Europe & Americas where income growth was 11% year on year.
Commenting on the first quarter performance, Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive, said:
“We are making good progress improving the performance of the Group. The significantly increased profit before tax results from particularly low loan impairment and our focus on cost control. Competition in our markets remains intense but our investments in the business and focus on our clients is making us more competitive and will enable us to deliver sustainable income growth over time.”
