FT-Alphaville drew my attention to Standard Chartered’s recent earnings report (as the post is short, I will quote in full):
In the first quarter:
By the third quarter…
Which helps explain why impairments almost doubled at Standard Chartered in Q3 compared to a year ago. Also of note in terms of EM corporate stress… StanChart’s loan book is actually shrinking. It fell under $300bn in the quarter.
StanChart’s profitability is 3/4 derived from Asia. Are the sinking loan book and the tighter underwriting criteria (timing!) a sign that the party is over in Asia?
I think so. Watch that space!