The bank Standard Chartered is to return $1.5 billion to investors through its biggest share buyback after posting a rise in first-half profits.
Bill Winters, the emerging-markets focused lender’s chief executive, hailed a strong set of figures from the FTSE 100 group, with pre-tax profits in the six months to the end of June up by 5 per cent to $3.5 billion.
The British bank also cheered investors by lifting its guidance for operating income growth this year to more than 7 per cent on a constant currency basis, having previously told shareholders to expect between 5 per cent and 7 per cent.
The buyback follows $1 billion of share repurchases announced at Standard Chartered’s annual results in February. It also comes on top of