Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Plc has said its balance sheet remains liquid, well funded and diversified, with a conservative risk profile. The group stated this in its interim management statement for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011.

According to the report, the UK bank has no direct sovereign exposure to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece or Spain. Our direct sovereign exposure in Europe is immaterial, adding that as evidenced by the recent highly successful EUR1.25 billion senior unsecured issuance and the SGD750 million Tier 2 issuance in Hong Kong, both of which were effected in October, it continue to see strong counterparty appetite for the group’s name.

Commenting on the performance, Mr. Peter Sands, the Group Chief Executive of the bank said, “The Group has continued to perform well in the third quarter of 2011 with income momentum across a broad spread of products and geographies.

“Despite recent macroeconomic events, our markets continue to exhibit strong growth and their growth credentials remain intact. We continue to be well positioned in these markets and remain open for business. We are differentiated by our liquidity and capital strength and continue to benefit from the disciplined execution of our strategy.”

He further noted that income growth continued to exceed cost growth in the first nine months of 2011, adding that it was a reflection of its on-going discipline in managing its cost base while credit quality remained good in both businesses and loan impairment for the group overall was slightly below the first half run rate.

The group balance sheet was well diversified and conservative and remained a source of competitive advantage and it continued to see inflows of deposits while loan growth was disciplined and was focused on selected products and segments, albeit it has seen an impact of foreign exchange on both sides of the balance sheet.

The advances to deposit ratio remained strong and was below 80 per cent at the end of the third quarter. The Group remained very well capitalized and its growth in Risk Weighted Assets has been well controlled since the half year, growing at a low single digit percentage rate.

According to a statement from the bank, “The consumer banking business has continued to gain traction in the third quarter of 2011 as income in consumer banking was diverse and has good momentum. Income was up on the first half run rate and was up by a double digit percentage rate over the third quarter of 2010.

“Mortgage income was slightly below the first half run rate as margins remained under pressure, reflecting both competition but also the impact of increasing interest rates in a number of markets. Deposit income was up on the first half run rate as margins remained resilient.

“Income in SME saw good growth, particularly in trade, foreign exchange and cash management products. Wealth Management income remains well diversified, but was below the run rates for the first half as a result of weaker investor sentiment.”