By Kosaku Narioka

Standard Chartered upgraded its operating income and return guidance as net profit rose in the third quarter, driven by the strength of its wealth business.

The London-based bank said Thursday that pretax profit from wealth and retail banking climbed from a year earlier, thanks partly to higher income from investment products, though that from its corporate and investment banking business declined.

Standard Chartered has been investing $1.5 billion in wealth and digital offerings, client centers and marketing to strengthen its business of serving affluent and international clients.

"Our sharper strategic focus on servicing our clients' cross-border and affluent banking needs is paying off," Chief Executive Bill Winters said.

Winters said the bank now expects to reach an underlying return on tangible equity target of about 13% in 2025, a year earlier than planned.

The lender also now expects operating income growth for the year toward the upper end of a 5% to 7% range in constant currency terms, excluding notable items. The bank previously expected income growth to be around the bottom of the range.

StanChart reiterated its plan to return at least $8 billion to shareholders, including dividends, over the three years ending in 2026.

The bank's Hong Kong-listed shares were recently 3.7% higher, extending gains after the third-quarter results. The stock has risen more than 65% this year, driven by easing U.S.-China trade tensions and share buybacks.

The lender said Thursday that net profit rose 10% from a year earlier to $1.03 billion for the three months ended September. That beat the $802.2 million estimate in a poll of analysts by data provider Visible Alpha.

Standard Chartered, which generates much of its profit in Asia, said underlying profit before tax increased 9.9% to $2.0 billion.

Pretax profit from its wealth and retail banking business climbed 24% to $861 million, while that from its corporate and investment banking business fell 11% to $1.17 billion, dragged by lower income from transaction services.

Net interest income--the difference between interest earned on loans and that paid on deposits-- dropped 5.0% to $1.41 billion. Non-net interest income, which includes net fees and commissions and net trading gains, rose 6.7% to $3.70 billion.

The bank booked credit impairments of $188 million, compared with $178 million in the year-earlier period.

Earlier in October, Standard Chartered agreed to sell its wealth and retail banking business in Uganda to South African bank Absa Group. In the same month, it named veteran banker Roberto Hoornweg as the sole chief executive of corporate and investment banking, as co-head Sunil Kaushal prepared to retire.

On Tuesday, rival HSBC Holdings reported lower quarterly net profit despite improvements in its wealth and Hong Kong businesses, weighed by a $1.1 billion provision for a lawsuit tied to Bernie Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 30, 2025 03:21 ET (07:21 GMT)

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