Standard Chartered PLC on Friday said it was launching a share buyback for up to $1.5 billion, on annual profit growth that fell short of market expectations.

The London-based bank said pretax profit was $6.01 billion for 2024, growing 18% on-year from $5.09 billion but falling short of the $6.20 billion company-compiled consensus.

Underlying operating income, on the other hand, rose 13% to $19.70 billion from $17.38 billion the year before, outperforming a $19.32 billion consensus.

Underlying net interest income for the year totalled $10.45 billion, increasing 9.3% from $9.56 billion.

‘Although rate cuts have been enacted by all major central banks, with further cuts signalled, the scale and pace of cuts are still highly uncertain. Structurally higher deficits, continued supply disruptions, military spending and other inflationary pressures, such as additional tariffs, may keep rates higher,’ the bank warned.

Standard Chartered’s CET1 ratio was 14.2% at December 31, compared to 14.1% the same time last year. This was above the bank’s 13% to 14% target range.

For the fourth quarter alone, pretax profit declined 30% to $800 million from $1.14 billion the year before, lower than the $983 million market consensus. Fourth-quarter underlying operating income fell 20% to $4.83 billion from $4.02 billion, higher than the expected $4.56 billion.

‘We produced a strong set of results in 2024. Our strategy of combining differentiated cross-border capabilities for corporate and institutional clients with leading wealth management expertise for affluent clients is firing on all cylinders, driving an increase in return on tangible equity to 11.7%,’ said Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters.

‘We delivered record income of $19.7 billion, including a very strong performance in Wealth Solutions, up 29%, and double-digit growth in Global Markets and Global Banking, and momentum has continued into 2025.’

Standard Chartered proposed a final dividend of 28 US cents per share, up 33% from 21 cents the year before. This brings the total dividend for 2024 up 37% on-year to 37 cents per share.

The bank also announced on Friday it would launch an additional share buyback for up to $1.5 billion, starting ‘imminently’, which it anticipates will reduce its CET1 ratio by around 61bps.

This exceeded analyst expectations, as a market consensus had previously pointed to a $1.1 billion share buyback. The programme is further to the $2.5 billion in buybacks already announced over the course of the year.

A total of $4.9 billion has been distributed to shareholders since its 2023 results, Standard Chartered noted, bringing the bank closer to its three-year cumulative distribution target of at least $8 billion.

Looking ahead, Standard Chartered expects operating income to grow 5% to 7% at a compound annual growth rate between 2023 and 2026, with its 2025 growth expected to be below this forecast range at constant currency.

Shares in Standard Chartered closed up 0.8% at 1,149.50 pence in London on Thursday. The stock is up 91% over the last twelve months, and is 83% higher than five years ago.

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