Standard Chartered share price rises amid buyback plan

Shares in Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) have climbed higher in London in today’s session as the Asia-focused lender posted a rise in profits and announced a share buyback. The group’s results continue the FTSE 100 banking reporting season following Barclays’ (LON:BARC) and Royal Bank of Scotland’s (LON:RBS) first-quarter updates last week.

As of 09:47 BST, Standard Chartered’s share price had added 5.11 percent to 703.60p. The stock is outperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.16 percent in the red at 7,428.67 points.

StanChart posts rise in profits

StanChart announced in a statement this morning that its underlying profit before tax had climbed 10 percent to $1.4b billion for the quarter ended March 31. The blue-chip company meanwhile also announced a final charge of $186 million to resolve all material legacy conduct and control issues, and cheered investors with a $1-billion share buyback, having received regulatory approval for the move.

“The first quarter demonstrated our determination to deliver the refreshed strategic priorities at pace,” StanChart’s chief executive Bill Winters commented in the statement, adding that the group’s first-quarter profit supported its belief that it would “generate full-year returns of at least 10 percent by 2021”.

Analysts weigh in on results

“As well as a good set of results the company announced a $1-billion buyback scheme, which should be taken positively even though to some extent it was expected by the market,” RBC Capital pointed out in a note to clients, as quoted by Proactive Investors. “The company noted that the global macro-economic outlook remains uncertain but there were encouraging signs of improvement in sentiment towards the end of the first quarter.”

The move came as the analysts retained their ‘underperform’ rating on the Asia-focused lender, with a target of 580p on the Standard Chartered share price.