Standard Chartered's private banking unit swung to a pre-tax loss of $1 million. What was behind the number?
The London-based bank reported overall profit for ordinary shareholders of $774 million last year and said it would pay out a dividend of 11 cents per share, in a press release. In early afternoon Asian trading, shares in the bank were up almost two per cent.
However, Standard Chartered's wealth arm swung to a pre-tax loss of $1 million, from a $32 million profit before taxes the prior year. The bank chalked up the loss to higher expenses and further investment in the business. Last year, it hired nearly 60 new private bankers, a significant number of them in Asia.
Fishing Richer
The emerging markets and Asia-focused firm also upgraded its platform with further investments in digitization, for example rolling out real-time prices for equity derivatives and fixed income, and slashing the time it needs to make investment proposals to clients.
Standard Chartered has also sharpened its focus on clients with more than $5 million in assets. The bank's private banking assets rose 18 percent, helped by favorable market swings as well as $2.2 billion in fresh client money.
