HONG KONG/London: Standard Chartered PLC (StanChart) on Wednesday said first-quarter pretax profit jumped 21%, beating analyst estimates, as rising interest rates buoyed cash management income and retail product sales of the emerging markets-focused lender.
StanChart, which earns most of its revenue in Asia, said statutory pretax profit for January-March reached $1.81 billion. That compared with $1.49 billion a year earlier and the $1.43 billion average of 14 analyst estimates compiled by the bank.
Chief Executive Bill Winters said he now expects income to grow around 10% this year, at the top end of a previously guided range.
It was the bank's largest single-quarter profit since the start of 2014, as rising interest rates boosted lending income while its financial markets trading division saw frenzied trading from customers amid volatile markets.
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