Shore Capital lifts Standard Chartered estimates, but shares 'up with events'

(Sharecast News) - Shore Capital has raised its numbers for Standard Chartered after the bank's stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, but kept a 'hold' rating on the stock despite the company's increasing momentum. The broker upped its fair value estimate for the shares from 1,270p to 1,355p, but said the stock looks "up with events", following a 38% surge so far this year and an 88% jump over the past 12 months.

Thursday's update from the emerging markets lender showed pre-tax profits at $2.28bn, up 44% over last year and some 32% ahead of consensus forecasts.

Even after adjusting for a one-off $238m gain on the disposal of ecommerce marketplace Solv India that wasn't fully captured into market estimates, the company still impressed with income generation, and lower impairment and restructuring charges than expected.

"This strong momentum is said to have continued into Q3, resulting in an FY25F income guidance upgrade, which is reflected in our revised estimates. Whether it can be sustained into Q4 and beyond is more questionable," Shore Capital said.

The company, which has benefitted from the increased volatility caused by US tariff uncertainty, may find that income growth could be limited next year if volatility normalises, especially given the strong comparative with this year, the broker said.

"Following a strong run, the shares are trading in line with our revised fair value of 1,355p," Shore Capital said.

The stock was down 0.4% at 1,354.5p on Friday afternoon, trading more or less in line with the Shore Capital's estimate.