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Tuesday 9 November 1:29 PM
Standard Chartered To Lay Off 10% Of HK Retail Bank StaffHONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.LN), a U.K.-based bank that specializes in emerging markets, said Tuesday it will lay off about 10% of its retail banking staff in Hong Kong, citing a tough competitive environment. "The operating environment in the Hong Kong banking industry is very challenging," a spokeswoman for the bank said. "Cutthroat pricing is expected to remain in wealth management, mortgages and deposits." Hong Kong is Standard Chartered's largest market, and the consumer banking business here delivered an operating profit of US$234 million in the first half of 2004, nearly half of the US$524 million in its worldwide operating profit from that business. But the spokeswoman, who asked not to be named, said its profit margins are under pressure from rising interest rates, which Standard Chartered can't pass on to consumers in the form of higher prices because of the intense competition. "In order to keep the record profit sustainable, we have to continually work on the cost-income ratio," the spokeswoman said. The bank has about 4,000 staff in Hong Kong, of which approximately 2,000 work in consumer banking. The spokeswoman said Standard Chartered would cut about 200 staff from the consumer banking division, leaving about 1,800. The bank has already started to notify employees, she said. -By Andrew Batson, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; andrew.batson@dowjones.com -Edited by Andrew Bullard
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