Standard Chartered profits up 10%
Standard Chartered has reported a 10% rise in first-half profit, helped by a reduction in its impairment provisions for bad loans.
The bank announced a pre-tax profit of $3.12bn (£1.96bn) for the first six months of the year, up from the $2.84bn it made in the same period last year.
Standard Chartered is based in the UK but generates about three-quarters of its profit in Asia.
In June it raised $537m through a share offering in India.
It became the first foreign company to list Indian Depositary Receipts in Mumbai, which show ownership of shares in an overseas firm.
"This has been an eventful as well as a successful six months for Standard Chartered," chairman John Peace said.
But he added: "These remain challenging times. There is fragility in the global economy and nervousness in financial markets.
"While there is economic improvement in our markets of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, they are still dependent on a recovery in the West which is much less certain."