London, June 25, 2026, 14:06 BST
- Stock up 1.1% at 2,056 pence in the afternoon
- The buyback took out 62.8 million shares at an average price of £17.803 each
- The current price is up 15.5% on the programme average
- Canceling gives a 2.9% mechanical boost to EPS with profit flat
Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) gained 1.1% to 2,056 pence during Thursday afternoon in London, trading ahead of the FTSE 100’s 0.8% rise. The price quote lagged by at least 15 minutes.
Standard Chartered said it finished its $1.5 billion buyback after picking up another 539,518 shares on Wednesday. In total, the bank bought back 62,797,188 shares at an average of £17.803262. After cancelling those shares, 2.191 billion shares remain outstanding.
Standard Chartered shares traded 15.5% higher than the average price paid in the buyback as of Thursday’s close. The bank retired a number of shares equal to 2.9% of the post-buyback share count. With profit flat, this boost means EPS is also about 2.9% higher than if those shares hadn’t been cancelled.
The average price and total shares suggest the buyback will cost around £1.12 billion in sterling. After the buyback, the bank is valued around £45.05 billion at 2,056 pence a share. The repurchase size is about 2.5% of its current market cap.
Picking up the identical 62.8 million shares at Thursday’s close would run about £1.29 billion. That’s £173 million above what the programme would outlay in sterling. Investors get a simple read on when capital goes back, skipping the idea of counting cancelled shares as any kind of asset or trade win.
Deutsche Bank AG (ETR:DBK) analyst Robert Noble upgraded Standard Chartered to “buy” from “hold” this week and bumped up his price target to 2,400 pence from 1,900 pence. That new level is roughly 17% higher than Thursday’s close. MarketScreener
Standard Chartered said this week it’s looking at selling its wealth and retail banking business in Bahrain. The corporate and investment banking arm is staying. The bank has sold similar units in five African countries and is leaving three more.
Standard Chartered’s Europe, Middle East and Africa wealth and retail head Bongiwe Gangeni said the lender will put money into places where it sees “scale and the most distinctive client proposition.” The bank expects any transition in Bahrain to take 18 to 24 months, if it gets the needed approvals. TradingView
Standard Chartered posted a 17% jump in first-quarter pretax profit, hitting $2.45 billion. Wealth income climbed 32%. “We’re quite optimistic about how that Middle East business shapes up over time,” Chief Executive Bill Winters said. Reuters
The buyback has locked in a 2.9% share-count gain. Any further boost to earnings per share will need either improved profits or a fresh drop in shares outstanding.
