Standard Chartered India will benefit from lower costs and facilities in 2025

India’s Standard Chartered’s pre-tax profit rose 15% to $542 million in calendar year 2025 from $472 million a year ago, helped by lower costs and provisions. The annual results released by the bank show that despite a decline in operating profit, profits increased by 3% from $1.53 billion in 2024 to $1.49 billion.India improved one spot to occupy the number four position in terms of profit contribution in 2025, mainly because profits from China fell 24% from $493 million in 2024 to $376 million.

Total operating expenses in India fell 5% to $912 million from $957 million a year ago. The decline in total provisions, including loan provisions from India, was even sharper, falling 59% to $45 million in 2025 from $109 million in 2024. Total loans and advances to customers in India fell 5% to $12.28 billion in 2025 from $12.98 billion in 2024.

Globally, the bank earned $238 million at the end of June 2025 from the sale of Solv India, a B2B marketplace incubated by SC Ventures, the bank’s venture capital arm. The banking group’s full-year pre-tax profit rose 16% to $7.90 billion in 2025 from $6.81 billion in 2024, mainly due to strong performance from its global banking and wealth businesses. The bank also announced a $1.5 billion share buyback and a full-year dividend that was 65% higher than a year earlier.

In its annual report, the bank said it will continue to focus on pursuing its strategy to grow its asset management business globally. “We will capitalize on our position as a leading global asset manager by leveraging asset flows through key global corridors, particularly for global Chinese and global Indian clients, across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We will leverage our unique advantages: our client continuum, global network and deep expertise in wealth solutions,” Standard Chartered said.