LONDON, May 9, 2026, 20:01 BST
- Standard Chartered repurchased 770,000 shares on May 7, pushing forward with a capital-return programme that got the green light earlier this year.
- All AGM resolutions received shareholder approval, with the group also greenlighting a final dividend of 49 cents for 2025.
- Following record first-quarter profit, the company still faces active risk tied to the Middle East.
Standard Chartered PLC snapped up 770,000 ordinary shares on May 7, with capital returns still front and center just a day after shareholders cleared every resolution at the annual meeting. The bank, listed in both London and Hong Kong, said it repurchased the shares from J.P. Morgan Securities as part of its current buyback scheme. The shares will be cancelled.
The timing of the purchase is notable, coming on the heels of a strong first-quarter showing and renewed shareholder support for distributions. Fewer shares outstanding after buybacks can push up earnings per share for those who stay in—assuming profits don’t falter.
Standard Chartered snapped up shares at a volume-weighted average price of 1,906.2401 pence apiece, buying across both the London Stock Exchange and Cboe. By the close in London on May 6, the bank had already deployed $882.95 million toward the buyback, according to the filing.
Shares of the bank finished Friday at 1,888.20 pence, edging up 0.06%, MarketScreener data showed. No trading took place in London on Saturday.
Standard Chartered reported that every one of its 25 resolutions cleared the necessary threshold at Thursday’s AGM. Shareholders also signed off on a final dividend payout of 49 U.S. cents per ordinary share for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025, the company disclosed in its AGM results.
Standard Chartered posted first-quarter operating income of $5.9 billion, rising 9%, along with a record pretax profit of $2.5 billion, up 17% at constant currency. Return on tangible equity landed at 17.4%. The capital return follows those results.
Chief Executive Bill Winters described the bank’s results as a “record first quarter performance,” pointing to double-digit gains in Wealth Solutions and Global Banking. Interim finance chief Pete Burrill highlighted that the quarter showcased the bank’s cross-border and affluent-client focus. Standard Chartered Bank
Strategy was evident in this week’s moves. Standard Chartered tapped Michelle Swanepoel to head its financing and securities services for the Middle East and Africa, effective July 1. She’ll take over from Scott Dickinson, who steps down after more than four decades in financial services. The unit handles custody, clearing, fiduciary, fund, and digital-asset services for institutional clients.
Margaret Harwood-Jones, global head of financing and securities services, credited Swanepoel with “a strong leadership role” in post-trade servicing throughout sub-Saharan Africa. For her part, Swanepoel described the Middle East and Africa business as a “significant opportunity” to expand client products across markets. Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered is ramping up efforts in wealth management. Raymond Ang, the bank’s global head of private and affluent banking, called the Gulf “a white spot” in comments to Reuters this week, highlighting plans to bring in more bankers in Dubai, Singapore, and across Asia as the bank targets affluent clients. Reuters
Standard Chartered once again finds itself competing with global rivals for a slice of Asian and Middle Eastern wealth, with HSBC also targeting key cross-border markets. The bank’s wealth division logged roughly $1 billion in income for the quarter, and net new money hit a record $18 billion in the first three months, Reuters reported.
The risk here isn’t minor. Standard Chartered took a $190 million credit charge in the first quarter, bracing for fallout from the Middle East conflict. A sharper regional downturn could hit credit quality, slow client flows, or limit the capital on hand for more distributions.
