Mubasher: Standard Chartered on Tuesday posted a 20% drop in its net profit in 2018 as charges related to alleged failures to check for clients with Iranian interests dragged earnings down.

At the statutory level, Standard Chartered’s net profit for the full year 2018 totalled $618 million, compared with $774 million in the prior year.

The UK lender last week said it would take a $900 million charge, related mainly to the US investigation into violations of sanctions in failing to check for dealings with clients involving Iranian interests.

Operating income rose 2.5% to $14.78 billion last year, compared with $14.42 billion in the previous year, as operating expenses edging higher to $10.46 billion.

The bank reported a final dividend of $0.15 per ordinary share, 36% year-on-year higher than $0.11 per share.

Standard Chartered would focus on propping up returns on equity by at least 10% by 2021 and generate cash that would be paid back to shareholders, if not allocated for acquisitions.