Standard Chartered’s Africa and Middle East division reported a 7 per cent growth in operating income for 2022 at $2.61 billion, driven by growth in transaction banking, financial markets and retail, the bank said on Thursday.
Working profit stood at $937 million (up 25 per cent on constant currency basis), while profit before tax was $819 million.
Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO, Africa and Middle East, said: “Despite ongoing challenges, the GCC markets are expecting to outpace global growth on the back of oil recovery, increased government spending and bilateral trade negotiations. We remain committed to investing in our differentiated international network, our affluent client business and market-leading digitisation initiatives to help our clients achieve prosperity, as we continuously aim to be an industry leader across the region.”
Loans and advances to customers were down 14 per cent (9 per cent down on constant currency basis) and customer accounts were down 8 per cent (3 per cent down on constant currency basis), the bank said in a statement.
Globally, the bank reported a 10 per cent growth in income at $16.3 billion, while underlying profit before tax was reported at $4.8 billion, up 15 per cent at constant currency basis.
“We have delivered a strong set of results in the fourth quarter and for the full-year 2022, with both income and profit before tax up 15 per cent, and a return on tangible equity of 8 per cent, up 120bps on 2021. We are also announcing a new $1 billion share buy-back, and a final dividend of 14 cents per share, taking total shareholder distributions announced since the start of 2022 to $2.8 billion, more than half the three-year $5 billion target we set ourselves by 2024. We continue to make significant progress against the five strategic actions outlined last year, and we remain confident in the delivery of our financial targets. We are upgrading our expectations, and are now targeting a return on tangible equity approaching 10 per cent in 2023, to exceed 11 per cent in 2024, and to continue to grow thereafter,” Group CEO Bill Winters said.
