Standard Chartered is boosting returns to shareholders with one billion US dollars (£750 million) of share buybacks as it posted higher profits, months after unveiling plans to cut about 7,800 jobs at the bank.
The London-based banking giant said it had a “record” financial performance over the first half of 2026.
Pre-tax profits reached 4.8 billion US dollars (£3.6 billion) for the half-year, an all-time high and up 9% compared with the same period a year ago.
Its wealth arm has particularly helped bring in more income for the bank this year, which increased by 38% year-on-year as it brought on and sold products to new clients.
Income from the global banking division also increased by 19% year-on-year which benefited from more dealmaking between companies and increased investor activity in the financial markets.
Standard Chartered highlighted opportunities for the bank to cater to an increase in wealth in new markets and to support investors through changes in the global trade environment.
The bank announced the one billion dollar (£750 million) share buyback scheme, which starts imminently and follows a 1.5 billion dollar (£1.1 billion) share buyback carried out in the first half of the year.
Bill Winters, chief executive of Standard Chartered, said the new shareholder returns “reflect our confidence in the business”.
“Clients continue to turn to us to facilitate trade, investment and wealth flows across the world’s most dynamic markets,” he said.
Mr Winters apologised in May for suggesting artificial intelligence would replace “lower-value human capital” as the bank announced plans to cut around 7,800 jobs while ramping up the use of the technology across its operations.
This equates to a 15% reduction in back-office roles over the next four years.
The boss said he received questions “about my choice of words, which I know has caused upset to some colleagues”, adding: “For that I am sorry.”
Posting his full remarks on LinkedIn, he said: “I think the transcript makes it clear that I value our colleagues – all of them – most highly and that we are totally committed to helping them to cope with the accelerating pace of change in our industry.”
