Standard Chartered PLC has released its Interim Management Statement for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019, revealing a solid financial markets performance particularly in foreign exchange (forex) and rates.
As highlighted in today’s statement, the British multinational company saw signs of improvement in market sentiment during the first quarter of 2019. Because of this, income for its financial markets segment was $749 million. This is higher by 3.5 percent year-on-year, or 29.1 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Income from the firm’s Forex sector came in at $299 million. When measuring this against the same period of the previous year, which achieved an income of $250 million, this is up by 19.6 percent. Compared against the previous quarter, Q1 of 2019’s income is up by 28.9 percent.
In the first quarter, Standard Chartered noted a positive uptick in income for Rates. Specifically, income for the segment was $221 million in the first quarter. This is significantly higher than the $63 million reported in the final quarter of last year and 24.9 percent higher year-on-year.
Income on commodities, however, did not hold up as well in the first quarter, falling by 11.8 percent from $51 million in the first quarter of 2018, to $45 million in Q1 of 2019. This figure is also down 10 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Standard Chartered Achieved Profit of $818 Million in Q1
For the Group as a whole, the company reported a profit of $818 million. This is a solid uptick as Standard Chartered reported a loss of $1.24 billion in the final quarter of last year. However, on a year-on-year comparison, it’s higher by 1.9 percent.
Operating income, however, declined for the first quarter of 2019 by 1.5 percent when measured against the same time period of 2018, coming in at $3.81 billion. Nonetheless, it is still higher than operating income in Q4 of 2018 ($3.6 billion) by 6.1 percent.
Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered
Source: Financial Times
Commenting on the first quarter performance, Bill Winters, the Group Chief Executive, said: "...Our first quarter profit supports our belief that we will generate full-year returns of at least 10% by 2021. The resolution of our legacy conduct and control issues means we can now manage our capital position more dynamically. We will maintain our strategic investment programme and start to buy back $1 billion of our shares, reflecting our confidence in our ability to execute the strategy and create long-term shareholder value."
