Global banking titan Standard Chartered Group posted a profit at the lower end of the forecast range, as intensifying market competition and the bank’s lack of business scalability have squeezed profit margins, analysts say.
The United Kingdom-based bank, for which Hong Kong and the Asia region generate the bulk of revenues and profits, announced its full-year performance in 2025 on Tuesday.
The bank’s reported profit before taxation has risen 16 percent to reach $6.96 billion. Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders hiked 27 percent to $4.56 billion. Both figures are at the lower end of estimates made by market analysts.
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The bank’s reported $20.9 billion operating income is mainly covered by the $11.2 billion net interest income and the $9.7 billion non-net interest income. The rise in non-net interest income is largely driven by the 24 percent hike in wealth solutions, followed by global banking (15 percent) and global markets (12 percent).
The bank proposed paying a final dividend of $0.49 per share, which lifts the full-year dividend payment to $0.61 per share, up 65 percent from a year ago. It also announced a new share buyback of $15 billion.
“We continue to benefit from a supportive business environment. We are seeing robust growth of our larger markets, and structural shifts in global trade and investment play to our distinctive strengths serving our clients’ cross-border and affluent banking needs,” Standard Chartered Group Chief Executive Bill Winters said in Tuesday’s results announcement.
He added that the group’s profits are mainly generated by the bank’s ability to serve international corporate, institutional and individual clients with its differentiated cross-border products and services, and the ability to help affluent customers to manage their wealth in markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The bank’s net interest margin slightly deteriorated from 2.06 percent in 2024 to 2.03 percent in 2025, while its cost-to-income slightly improved from 64 percent in 2024 to 63.5 percent in 2025.
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Standard Chartered Group’s underlying profit before taxation rose 16 percent to $7.9 billion in 2025, of which Hong Kong contributed $2.66 billion — up 40 percent year-on-year — continuing its run as the largest contributor to profits.
Morningstar Equity Analyst Kathy Chan said the shares of Standard Chartered Group are overvalued, trading on a price-to-book value of a multiple of 1.1, which is above the 10-year historical average of 0.6. “We think margins will come under some pressure, given the bank’s lack of scale to compete with larger peers as interest rates ease.”
Chan said she expects the fair share price of Standard Chartered Group to be around HK$150 ($19.2) per share. On Tuesday, the bank’s share price closed 3 percent higher at HK$197.9 apiece after the profit announcement.
