Britain's StanChart reports record profits, income

Standard Chartered, a British bank focused on emerging markets, said Thursday that it enjoyed record revenues and profits during the first five months of 2009.
"Standard Chartered has continued to deliver another strong performance in the first five months of the year, with record levels of income and profit," chief executive Peter Sands said in a trading update.
"Although there are tentative signs of improving economic conditions in some of our markets, equally there are signs of continuing stress," he said without giving specific figures.
"It is still too early to forecast a sustained recovery and we therefore remain cautious on the outlook," he added.
After the update, Standard Chartered's share price was unchanged at 1,195 pence in late morning trade on London's FTSE 100 index, which was down 0.27 percent.
In March, the bank announced a 20-percent jump in 2008 net profit to 3.41 billion dollars (2.69 billion euros), leaving it well-placed to face the global economic slowdown.
The vast majority of Standard Chartered's business is in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.