Standard Chartered Q1 profit down 64%

London

STANDARD Chartered Plc reported a 64 per cent drop in first-quarter profit as revenue fell in every business line.

Pre-tax adjusted profit was US$539 million for the first three months of 2016, down from US$1.5 billion a year earlier, the London-based bank said in a statement on Tuesday. Revenue fell 24 per cent to US$3.35 billion, falling short of the US$3.49 billion average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Chief executive officer Bill Winters, 54, brought in a new management team and is seeking to restructure or exit US$100 billion of risky assets to turn around the Asia-focused lender, which had its first annual loss since 1989 last year. Standard Chartered is contending with a sharp drop in revenue amid surging loan impairments after …