Overview
- Standard Chartered reported 2025 underlying pre‑tax profit of $7.9 billion, a 16% increase year on year.
- StanChart announced a $1.5 billion share buyback and a 49 US cents final dividend, taking the 2025 total to 61 cents, while delivering a 14.7% return on tangible equity and guiding 2026 income growth to the low end of its 5–7% range.
- Wealth remained StanChart’s growth engine with income up 24% to $3.1 billion, $52 billion of net new money and 275,000 new affluent clients.
- StanChart’s fourth‑quarter adjusted pre‑tax profit of $1.24 billion missed consensus, and February saw CFO Diego De Giorgi depart to join Apollo Global Management.
- HSBC posted 2025 pre‑tax profit of $29.9 billion, down 7% year on year but above estimates, reflecting a $1.1 billion Madoff‑related provision, roughly $1 billion in restructuring costs and rising Hong Kong commercial‑property bad debt; it completed the $14 billion take‑private of Hang Seng Bank, paid a 45 cents final dividend and paused buybacks.