Standard Chartered bank makes 'strong start' to 2012

Asia-focused emerging markets bank Standard Chartered on Wednesday said it had made a "strong start" to 2012, enjoying good income growth during the first quarter despite a strong dollar. "The group had a strong start to the year, with high single digit income growth over the comparative period of 2011," the British lender said in a statement. "The group's first quarter performance builds on the excellent momentum seen at the end of 2011." Standard Chartered however noted that income growth had been "impacted by the continued strength of the US dollar against Asian currencies." It said that "diverse double digit income growth in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and the Americas, UK and Europe region has more than compensated for the impact of subdued domestic business sentiment in India." The bank's chief executive Peter Sands said there had been "good performances across a broad spread of geographies and products." Sands added in the trading update: "We are in excellent shape, we are a growth company and are differentiated by our liquidity and capital strength. Macroeconomic sentiment is showing signs of improvement, although there remain clear uncertainties and risks in the global environment." Standard Chartered will publish full first-quarter results in June.