BY KENNETH EZE
Business improvements and efficiencies during the difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic have seen Africa and Middle East region drive half year result to a record five-year high for Standard Chartered Bank Plc for the period ended June 30, 2021.
From the results, improved loan impairments, strong underlying business momentum and good progress across the bank’s strategic priorities combined to grow profit before tax by 37 per cent, year-on-year.
Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO, Africa and Middle East said, “I’m extremely proud of our best ever first half performance in over five years. This is the result of all the hard work the team has put in over the years and the execution of some tough decisions we made to drive efficiencies and reduce risk.
“This has happened during a period when the backdrop while improving remains uncertain and challenging and is a true testament to the resilience of our underlying business. We have remained focused on clients and people and have made very good progress on our priorities.
“We are excited about the recent expansion of our network into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We will leverage our presence in the Kingdom to promote trade, investment, and capital flows in support of the Saudi Vision 2030.
“The digital banking platforms we have launched across nine key African Markets – Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria – have transformed the way we do business and connect with our clients. The pandemic, rather than becoming a stumbling block, has accelerated our growth by increasing our customer base by over half a million, which is 50% higher than our legacy base.
“As we move forward, the region is focused on executing swiftly against the strategy to drive growth and we are determined to support our clients achieve prosperity whilst being the most responsible and sustainable bank.”
The bank also announced an additional share buy-back programme together with the resumption of the interim dividend payment.
The H1 21 results show Healthy Operating Profit of $476 million compared to $91 million during the same period last year; driven by significantly reduced credit impairments, wealth growth, productivity actions and a strong pipeline; partly offset by flow-through impact of rate cuts.
It also shows a significant improvement in the region’s Return on Tangible Equity ratio.
There was a great turnaround story in the UAE; with significantly improved returns.
