StanChart full-year profit doubles, to begin $750 mn share buyback

The bank said the improved outlook led it to raise its target of delivering a return on tangible equity of at least 7% by 2023, with its longer-term goal being a double-digit return

Standard Chartered raised its core profitability goals and promised shareholders extra payouts on Thursday, despite full year profit undershooting expectations, as it banks on inflation-battling rate hikes worldwide to boost lending.
 

CEO Bill Winters, who repaired StanChart's balance sheet and slashed thousands of jobs after he took charge in 2015, has more recently come under pressure to boost growth and lift the bank's flagging share price. The bank's London-listed stock is around 45% below the level when Winters became CEO.
 

StanChart's Hong Kong shares fell as much as 3.3%, the biggest daily percentage decline since late November, on a broadly