London, Feb 25, 2026, 09:41 GMT — Regular session
- Standard Chartered picked up 0.2% at the open in London.
- The buyback kicks off Feb. 25, capped at $1.5 billion.
- Traders eye the strategy update coming in May, along with the earnings slated for April 30.
Standard Chartered STAN.L ticked 0.2% higher to 1,792.5 pence at 0941 GMT, following a close at 1,789.0p. The day’s range has stretched from 1,792.5p up to 1,835p. Over the past year, the shares have swung between 872.8p and 1,924p. Next up is the earnings report slated for April 30.
That slight uptick is significant—investors are weighing whether the bank’s new capital-return promises are enough to prop up the shares. Standard Chartered, with its heavier reliance on cross-border trade and wealth movement, tends to react quickly to swings in policy and risk appetite.
On Tuesday, the emerging-markets lender posted a full-year pretax profit of $6.96 billion, marking a 16% increase, just shy of the $7.2 billion average from 16 analyst estimates it had gathered. The bank set its sights on a statutory return on tangible equity of more than 12% by 2026. Chief executive Bill Winters said he’ll outline the next phase of strategy at a capital markets event in May, and confirmed the board wants him to oversee its execution: “The board has also been clear they would like me to see through this strategy in terms of my own succession.” The profit miss stemmed partly from non-interest revenue, which grew 12.9% to $9.71 billion—still below expectations—even as wealth income surged 24% and global banking income rose 15% thanks to increased business volumes and more capital markets activity. Reuters
The bank plans to launch a $1.5 billion share buyback kicking off Feb. 25 and wrapping up by Aug. 24, according to its statement. Purchases will take place on the London Stock Exchange and/or Cboe Europe, executed under a non-discretionary mandate with J.P. Morgan Securities. The program allows for up to 200 million ordinary shares to be repurchased, with all acquired shares set to be cancelled.
Winters, in a different statement, put the bank’s underlying return on tangible equity at 14.7% for 2025, noting this figure excludes certain one-offs. “We’ve upped our full-year dividend per share by 65% and are rolling out a fresh $1.5 billion share buyback,” he said. Standard Chartered Bank
European stocks edged higher Wednesday, the STOXX 600 notching a fresh record as banks rallied—up over 1%—after HSBC boosted its main lending target. That gave financials a lift, though underlying concerns about policy and growth remain in the background.
Standard Chartered dropped 1.4% Tuesday despite reporting earnings, while the FTSE 100 barely moved. Traders were sifting through President Donald Trump’s changing position on trade. “Investors remained fragile,” Swissquote Bank senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said. Reuters
Still, the buyback only goes so far. Should trading slow down or fee income slip—worse if trade frictions intensify—the bank’s tilt toward fee-based revenue could stall out, making that return target a tough ask.
Investors are eyeing the speed at which repurchases feed into per-share figures, and keeping tabs on cost discipline as the “Fit for Growth” programme continues. The buyback can prop up the tape on slow days—just don’t expect it to bail out a rough quarter.
Attention is shifting to the May capital markets event, where traders expect clarity on the upcoming strategy phase and word on Winters’ succession planning. First up, though: April 30 marks the next major checkpoint.
Related articles: Share Buybacks
