StanChart profits up 4% to $3.38bln on strong wholesale banking

Client income, which made up 74 percent of all Wholesale Banking revenue, grew 22 percent to US$6.88 billion.

Said growth is attributed to the expansion in product capability and increased cross-selling opportunities, in support of the lending, corporate finance and financial markets businesses. Wholesale Banking operating profit before tax (OPBT) reached US$4.08 billion, or a 36 percent increase.

Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive, Standard Chartered said, "In 2009 income from our top 50 clients increased by 38 percent and the number of clients from which we generated income in excess of $10 million increased by 88 percent. We are deepening our relationships by getting closer to our clients. We are also expanding the product capabilities and solutions we provide to them."

On the other hand, Consumer Banking full year income and OPBT fell due to margin compression despite showing quarterly improvement. Customer lending grew 17 percent while mortgage lending climbed 21 percent, with deposits also seeing growth by 11 percent. Fee income from Wealth Management products rose 35 percent from Q1 to Q4 2009.

Although Consumer Banking loan impairments dropped 13 percent H2 vs H109 and Wholesale Banking loan impairments fell 19 percent, impairment losses on loans and other credit rose from $1.3 billion to $2 billion.