Standard Chartered (02888) announced its performance for 2025, with a pre-tax basic profit of $7.9 billion, an increase of 18% year-on-year.

Standard Chartered (02888) released its full-year performance for 2025, based on a fixed exchange rate, the group achieved operating income of $20.9 billion, a 6% increase year-on-year, or an 8% increase when excluding significant projects; pre-tax basic profit excluding exceptional items was $7.9 billion, an 18% increase year-on-year; pre-tax statutory profit excluding exceptional items was $7 billion, an 18% increase year-on-year; basic earnings per share were 229.7 cents, with a proposed final dividend of 49 cents per share. Group Chief Executive Bill Winters stated, "We showed strong momentum again in 2025, achieving a return on tangible equity of 14.7%, reaching the target of the three-year plan a full year ahead of schedule; the year has also started well, benefiting from a favorable business environment. We are seeing robust growth in larger markets, and the structural adjustments in global trade and investment are allowing us to leverage our unique strengths to meet the needs of customers for cross-border banking and private banking services. We will increase the full-year dividend per share by 65% and announce a new $1.5 billion share buyback." Based on this year's performance, the group expects customer activity to continue to be influenced by the structural adjustments in the global economy. These trends (including a more diverse world, increasing digitalization of currencies, and increased market participation in wealth management) are expected to continue to develop. We will be hosting a capital markets event in May this year to outline how these trends will affect the next stage of growth for the group and provide details on the expected financial outcomes. Our guidance for 2026 is as follows: Operating income growth on a statutory basis is expected to be in the lower range of 5-7% annually (based on a fixed exchange rate), with net interest income expected to remain largely flat (based on a fixed exchange rate). Statutory costs are expected to remain largely flat (based on a fixed exchange rate), including the final year of expenses for the "efficiency gains" plan. Statutory return on tangible equity is expected to exceed 12%.