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Standard Chartered profits jump, rosy on Asia

AFP, London
Standard Chartered, the emerging markets bank, said Tuesday that its net profit jumped a fifth to 3.41 billion dollars (2.69 billion euros) in 2008, leaving it well-placed to tackle a slowdown in Asia.
Despite the lift in profits after tax, Standard Chartered was not immune to rising bad debts linked to the credit crisis, as it wrote off 1.79 billion dollars in 2008, more than double the 818 million dollars it wrote off in 2007.
The second-biggest British banking group by market value said it cut directors' bonuses for 2008 by 10-25 percent and imposed salary freezes on all senior managers.
"To deliver record results in this exceptional environment is a great achievement." the bank's acting chairman John Peace said in the group's earnings statement.
Chief executive Peter Sands said the best way to continue delivering shareholder value was through Standard Chartered's "rigorous focus on Asia, Africa and the Middle East" in addition to a "prudent approach to liquidity and capital" and "continued discipline in cost and risk management."
Sands said Asian banks were far better placed to withstand the financial crisis than their Western peers that are losing billions of dollars because of the credit crisis and issuing new shares to boost capital.
"While Asian banks are feeling the stress, as dollar liquidity dries up and the credit environment deteriorates, they arc on the whole in much better shape than many counterparts in the West," Sands said in the statement.
"The ingredients of the banki ng crisis
in the UK and the US, the over-leverage, overcomplexity and opacity, are not present to nearly the same extent."
A company is described as highly "leveraged" if it finances its activities by relying heavily on borrowed money.
Sands added that it was "also unwise to draw too many analogies" to the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.
"In fact, the resilience of Asia owes much to lessons learnt from that experience. This time most countries have substantial foreign currency reserves and strong fiscal positions. This time most businesses have relatively conservative balance sheets," he stressed.
Standard Chartered's Asia chief executive, Jaspal Bindra, told reporters in Hong Kong that the international bank's salary freeze would apply to senior managers globally, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Sands meanwhile added that Standard Chartered "was focused on building balance sheet strength and on maintaining high levels of liquidity." adding that it is "on a firm footing for the challeges and opportunities that will come during 2009."
In late morning London trade, the share price of Standard Chartered was up 3.15 percent to 605.50 pence, valuing the bank at 15.59 billion dollars.
Standard Chartered is the second biggest British bank by market capitalisation after HSBC, which on Monday asked shareholders for nearly 18 billion dollars of new capital in return for new shares to help it withstand the financial crisis.
HSBC also announced 6,100 US job cuts after its net profits dived 70 percent in 2008, hit by the collapse of the US subprime, or high-risk, housing market.