London, Jan 8, 2026, 09:36 GMT — Regular session
- Shares up about 0.8% at 1,805 pence in early trade
- Bank bought back 537,006 shares, taking buyback spend to about $1.11 bln
- Buyback runs to end-January; full-year results due Feb. 24
Standard Chartered STAN.L shares rose about 0.8% to 1,805 pence in early London trade on Thursday after the bank disclosed another round of share repurchases under its buyback programme. The lender said it bought 537,006 shares on Wednesday at an average 1,805.41 pence, lifting cumulative buyback spending to $1.11 billion and cutting shares outstanding after cancellation to about 2.26 billion. The stock has traded between 1,783.5 and 1,806.5 pence so far, still below its 52-week high of 1,875.5 pence.
The move comes after a sharp pullback a day earlier. The shares slid 2.53% on Wednesday to 17.90 pounds, underperforming a 0.74% drop in the FTSE 100, and finished about 4.6% below a 52-week high of 18.76 pounds hit on Jan. 5.
Standard Chartered launched the buyback in August under an agreement with Goldman Sachs International to run through Jan. 31, 2026, for up to $1.3 billion. On its latest disclosed run-rate the programme is now roughly 86% complete, leaving about $186 million of headroom.
In a recent investor update, the bank reiterated it expects 2025 income growth towards the upper end of its 5%-7% range on a constant-currency basis, and it now targets an underlying return on tangible equity, a key profitability gauge, of about 13% this year. It also said net interest income — the spread between what it earns on loans and pays on deposits — should be down a low single-digit percentage from 2024, while CEO Bill Winters said wealth “continues to show really good momentum” and the fourth quarter was “in shape” despite slowing from the third. Standard Chartered Bank
Separately, Standard Chartered on Wednesday published final terms for three bond issues under its $77.5 billion debt issuance programme, including $500 million of floating-rate notes due 2030 and two tranches of fixed-rate reset notes due 2030 and 2037. The notes are due to be issued on Jan. 13, with the bank seeking admission to the FCA’s official list and trading on the London Stock Exchange.
But buybacks do not insulate the stock from a sudden shift in rate expectations or a jump in credit losses across the lender’s emerging-market footprint. If lending margins tighten more than expected, the bank will need fees from wealth and markets to keep doing the heavy lifting.
