Stanchart Chalks Up Record Half-Year Profit

Source : The Business Times, August 9, 2007

STANDARD Chartered Bank Singapore has turned in record operating pre-tax profit of US$205 million for the half-year ended June 30, up 53 per cent.

Its operations in the Republic are the strongest for the UK-based bank that is 14 per cent owned by Temasek Holdings.

'Singapore had the strongest growth ... the group grew 30 per cent,' said Lim Cheng Teck, chief executive, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore, yesterday.

The Singapore operations' profit contribution to the group is now more than 10 per cent, up from 9.1 per cent a year ago, he said.

Income was up 38 per cent to US$400 million while costs rose 36 per cent to US$187 million as the bank hired more people and invested in new products, he said.

One of the new products was the bank's mortgage product which offered a flexible Singapore offer rate (SOR) with an interest rate cap, launched in May.

With this SOR-pegged loan, borrowers peg their interest rates to the 3-month Singapore wholesale offer rate with a guaranteed interest rate cap in the first two years.

Standard Chartered Singapore's mortgage book had fallen to US$3.6 billion from US$3.9 billion a year ago as customers repaid home loans after the bank repriced them higher.

But with the latest mortgage product, home loans are growing again, he said.

Half of new home loans booked (since May 2007 when the product was launched) are SOR-pegged.

Consumer banking posted operating profit before tax of US$110 million, up 21 per cent with all major businesses doing well, led by small and medium sized banking and wealth management sales such as unit trusts.

The bank distributes third party funds and unit trust assets under management are S$1.7 billion.

Mr Lim said wholesale banking operating profit before tax more than doubled to US$95 million.

Commodity corporates including traders and financial institutions led the growth in revenues. Global market revenues were driven by derivatives and foreign exchange products together with strong contribution from debt capital markets and corporate finance.

The bank is confident that the strong momentum it achieved in the first six months of this year will continue into the second half of 2007.

'We're mindful of external changes of the last 2-3 weeks and confident of continued growth.

'We believe this is a short-term market correction and do not see a big fallout,' Mr Lim said.