StanChart says its trade business resilient to Trump tariff disruption

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By Lawrence White

LONDON (Reuters) – Standard Chartered on Thursday sought to reassure investors that its business can cope with disruption to global trade after pressure on the trade-focused bank’s share price following U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs announcements.

“Whilst an escalating trade war would impact global growth and our markets, we believe our network is a key, distinctive and strategic advantage for Standard Chartered,” Chief Executive Bill Winters said in a statement released in conjunction with the bank’s annual shareholder meeting.

The bank’s network is not overly reliant on any single bilateral trade relationship and only seven trade routes generate network income greater than $100 million per annum, Winters said.

Last week the bank, which is headquartered in London, cautioned that its lending income and dealmaking fees could shrink because of the potential impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on its business.

With a strategy to support big international companies as they expand and trade across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, StanChart is more exposed than rival domestically-focused British banks to global trade disruption.

The annual investor gathering took place as the U.S. and Britain prepared to announce a deal to lower tariffs on some goods later on Thursday, the first such agreement since President Trump announced sweeping levies on April 2.

StanChart shares rose nearly 40% in the last year as the bank benefited from lending income boosted by higher interest rates, as well as some success in efforts to boost its fee-based income from services such as wealth management.

The bank’s share price has yet to fully recover however from a 23% decline in the days following President Trump’s tariff announcements, trading on Thursday at 1059 pence compared with 1154 pence before April 2.

(Reporting By Lawrence White; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Aidan Lewis)