Standard Chartered records $10m loss from Cameroon, Gambia divestment

Standard Chartered has reported a $10m loss on its divestment from its operations in Cameroon and the Gambia.

This was indicated in its financial statement for 2025.

The NGGOSSIPS reports that Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc and Standard Chartered Bank entered into agreements for the acquisition of Standard Chartered’s shareholding in its subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone and its Consumer, Private & Business Banking business in Tanzania. The handover of Standard Chartered banking operations in Cameroon to Access Bank Cameroon was completed in December.

While the lender suffered losses in its divestment in these two countries, it recorded gains in others.

“During 2025, the Group disposed of its indirectly held investments in subsidiaries, and the gain/loss on disposal was Standard Chartered Research and Technology India Private Limited (gain: $238m, including translation adjustment loss: $3m); Fourtwothree Pte. Ltd (gain: $1.8m); Standard Chartered Bank Gambia Limited (loss: $5.4m, including translation adjustment loss: $8m); Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon S.A. (loss: $5.3m, including translation adjustment loss: $9m); and Tawi Fresh Kenya Limited (loss: $0.5m),” read part of the report.

On its general performance, the lender reported operating income appreciation of six per cent to $20.9bn or eight per cent excluding notable items, driven by record performance in Wealth Solutions and Global Markets and strong double-digit growth in Global Banking. Underlying profit before tax of $7.9bn was up 18 per cent, and underlying earnings per share of 229.7 cents increased 37 per cent, driven by a reduction in share count as well as the increase in profitability.

Commenting on the 2025 performance, the Group Chief Executive, Bill Winters, said, “We built additional momentum in 2025, leveraging our distinct competitive advantages, and intend to capitalise on this in the years to come, having exceeded our 13 per cent Return on Tangible Equity milestone a year earlier than guided.

“This bank has been transformed in the last ten years, from a traditional, broad-based commercial bank into a focused, structurally more profitable, and distinctly positioned international institution.

“But what got us here will not get us to where we want to be over the next decade. We will explain more about our plans at our capital markets event in May of this year, where we will describe our next phase of growth and the expected financial effects of our plans.”

The interim Chief Financial Officer, Pete Burrill, added, “We delivered strong performance in 2025, reflecting sustained successful execution of our cross-border and affluent banking strategy, which helped our clients navigate an uncertain external environment. The continued strategic focus on areas of our distinctive competitive advantage helped us deliver an underlying return on tangible equity of 14.7 per cent in 2025, surpassing our 13 per cent underlying return on tangible equity target a year earlier than planned.”