Standard Chartered India's profit before tax was down 33 per cent to $804 million for the year 2011 against $1.2 billion the previous year. The Indian arm's position in terms of its share in the group's profits slipped from No. 1 to No. 3.
For 2011, the StanChart group posted 11 per cent rise in profit to $6.78 billion ($6.12 billion). Mr Sunil Kaushal, Chief Executive, India and South Asia, said weak equity markets, higher interest rates and volatile rupee impacted business confidence in India, which in turn led to a slowdown in business expansion. “We remain cautiously optimistic about the prospects in India,” he said. Issues like policy inertia also impacted pace of investment in the corporate sector, he added.
Income in India operations fell by 11 per cent to $1.80 billion ($2.03 billion). Loan impairment rose 42 per cent to $112 million ($79 million). “We are very conservative about the environment at this stage. Provisions are mainly on the corporate side,” said Mr Anurag Adalkha, Chief Financial Officer, India and South Asia.
Wholesale banking profit fell 35 per cent to $706 million ($1.09 billion), while consumer banking profit fell 3 per cent to $98 million ($101 million). Advances grew 15 per cent to $10.8 billion (after adjusting for variations in rupee-dollar exchange rates) and deposits grew 11 per cent to $12.75 billion.