Poor loan growth, forex losses pull Standard Chartered's operating profit down 18%

MUMBAI: Slowdown in corporate finance and steep fall in the rupee coupled with higher impairment charges have pulled down British banking major Standard Chartered's operating profit from India by 18 per cent to USD 311 million (about Rs 1,734 crore) in the first half of 2012.

Due to this, India, which had emerged as the highest profit generating market in 2010, has been relegated to the sixth best performing geography for the bank, after Hong Kong, Singapore, the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East & South Africa, and the Americas, Britain & Europe.

The bank also saw its loan impairment charges or provisions jump by a huge 81 per cent to USD 94 million during the reporting period.

The bank's newly-appointed regional chief executive for India and South Asia Sunil Kaushal attributed the fall to a slowdown in corporate finance activity and the huge depreciation in the rupee, which alone affected total income by 14 per cent.

In a presentation, the bank - the first multinational to have raised capital from the domestic market through a depository issue two years ago -- said it has been "negatively impacted by onshore business sentiment and depreciation of the rupee."

At 1515 hrs, the bank's IDR was trading at Rs 102.90, up nearly 2 per cent on the BSE, whose broader 30-share Sensex was trading 0.2 percent up.

The bank's wholesale banking operations here witnessed a 21 per cent dip in operating profit at USD 263 million, with a huge 81 per cent jump in loan impairments at USD 94 million.

Kaushal said the stress is coming from a select few accounts, but refused to give details.