Standard Chartered lifts its 2026 income forecast as third-quarter profit rises 27%
The London-listed bank now expects operating income to grow faster than its previous 5% to 7% range, helped by a third consecutive record quarter in its wealth business.
By Daily Oracles News Team2 min read
Standard Chartered has raised its revenue outlook for 2026 after reporting a 27% jump in third-quarter profit.
The bank, which is headquartered in London but earns most of its money in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, made $2.25bn before tax in the three months to 30 September, up from $1.78bn a year earlier. Operating income rose 13% to $5.78bn. Basic earnings per share were 68.9 cents, against 44.5 cents.
Its earlier guidance was for income growth within a 5% to 7% range this year. It now expects growth above that range, measured at constant currency and excluding one-off items, and said the quarter had given it the confidence to make the change.
Wealth business
The strongest growth came from the division that sells investments and insurance to wealthier customers. Wealth Solutions income rose 26% on a year earlier, its third record quarter in a row. Net interest income, the margin earned between lending and deposit rates, grew far more slowly, up 4.3% to $1.47bn.
Return on tangible equity, a measure of profitability that banks track closely, reached 15.7% for the quarter, 5.2 percentage points higher than a year before. Credit impairment charges, the money set aside for loans that may go bad, fell to $90m from $188m. That figure included $34m of additional provisions linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
The bank's common equity tier one ratio, the core measure of its capital strength, slipped to 13.8% from 14.1% at the end of June.
Targets for the rest of the year
The updated guidance for 2026 now includes:
- operating income growth above 5% to 7%
- net interest income up around 4%
- a cost-to-income ratio of around 60%
- return on tangible equity of around 14%
The $1bn share buyback announced with half-year results on 29 July is still running. By the end of September the bank had spent $484m buying back 16 million shares.
The bank said it had benefited from shifts in global trade, investment and the creation of wealth across its markets. It noted that the rate paid on customer deposits had fallen faster than the yield on its assets where interest rates were lower, which helped its net interest margin rise to 2.03%.
Its shares had closed 0.5% higher at 2,019p on Tuesday, the day before the figures came out.
