Record first quarter figures for Standard

STANDARD Chartered, the Asia-facing bank, yesterday hailed a "very strong" start to the year with first-quarter profits hitting a record.

The London-based group, which avoided state support during the global financial crisis, said that it had seen continued improvement in performance during the three months to 31 March.

The latest sign of health from the banking sector follows strong first-quarter updates last week from Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group, which is part-owned by the state.

Standard said its bad debt performance had improved with "no material new impairments" in corporate loans.

Standard Chartered's international focus – particularly in developing regions – has helped the bank weather the financial storm better than many competitors. It posted a 13 per cent rise in annual profits to $5.2 billion (about 3.5bn) for 2009 and has shown little sign of losing momentum this year.

"Overall, the group has had a very strong start to the year, despite margin headwinds and increasing competitive pressures, with a record quarter in terms of both profit and income," the firm said.

Standard Chartered has moved to rebalance its business, with a greater contribution coming from the consumer division in the quarter compared with last year.

The firm continues to grow the business with a focus on home loans and current and savings accounts.

However, Standard Chartered added that good volume growth in mortgages had been "more than offset" by reduced margins as a result of increased competition in the market, while UK interest rates remained very low.