The Hindu Business Line : StanChart India income jumps 60% in 2007

Growth levers: Mr Neeraj Swaroop (left), Regional CEO, India, and South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, and Mr Anurag Adlakha, CFO, at a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday. –

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Feb 26 Buoyed by a rise in revenues, Standard Chartered Bank India has reported a 71 per cent jump in operating profits for the calendar year 2007 at $690 million, from $403 million in the previous year.

The bank is now the second largest market for the Standard Chartered Group and accounts for 17 per cent of the global profits.

Hong Kong was the biggest market for Standard Chartered in 2007, with its contribution to global profit at $1.19 billion. In 2007, India has overtaken Korea, which contributed $326 million to the global pie and stands third.

Wholesale banking

Mr Neeraj Swaroop, Regional CEO-India and South Asia, Standard Chartered, said that the wholesale banking portfolio had shown a growth of 80 per cent while consumer banking also grew by over 20 per cent.

About 10 per cent of the overall growth can also be attributed to the appreciation of the rupee in 2007.

The bank’s income has jumped 60 per cent at $1.3 billion, against $817 million in the previous year.

Mr Swaroop said that the contribution of wholesale banking had increased to 65 per cent, from 60 per cent in the previous year. Consequently, the proportion of the consumer or retail banking business has fallen from 40 per cent to 35 per cent.

Mr Bala Swaminathan, Managing Director, Origination and Client Coverage, Standard Chartered India, said that the bulk of the revenues in the whole sale banking portfolio came from transaction banking including foreign exchange and risk management services. The lending business contributed just 10-12 per cent of the portfolio.

Within the consumer banking portfolio, mortgage loans chipped in 50 per cent, small and medium enterprises brought in 15 per cent while the rest of the 35 per cent was from unsecured loans such as credit cards and personal loans.

The bank’s net non-performing assets stood at around one per cent.

Performance

The Standard Chartered group has globally reported a profit before tax of $ 4.04 billion, which is 27 per cent up from the previous year.

Standard Chartered Bank expects interest rates in India to remain flat in the short term.

Mr Sundeep Bhandari, Managing Director and Head-global markets, South Asia, Standard Chartered, said that in the medium term, there could be some measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India by way of a hike in the cash reserve ratio.

The reasoning is that if the US slashes its rates, the widening interest rate differential would mean that India would continue to be an attractive destination for foreign fund flows.

The RBI has also maintained a hawkish outlook about inflationary pressures.

More Stories on : Financial Performance | Foreign Banks

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Rupee gains in dull trade

StanChart India income jumps 60% in 2007

SBT signs MoU with Crisil

Govts may be Salvation

Motilal Oswal, IDBI Bank team up for online trading facility

Tamilnad Mercantile AGM on April 11

Corpn Bank ATMs at MRPL outlets

SBH raises rates on term deposits

Bond prices decline

FAPI seeks Rs 5-cr loan

Call rates close lower

Raise fixed deposit rates for senior citizens

Union Bank exploring opportunities in Australia

Factors at play in the HDFC Bank-Centurion deal