StanChart lifts income target after wealth boom powers earnings beat; shares jump

HONG KONG/LONDON, July 29 : Standard Chartered reported on Wednesday a better-than-expected 9 per cent rise in first-half pretax profit and lifted its full-year income target, as wealth and global banking revenue surged and credit charges tied to the Iran war held steady.The bank's Hong Kong-traded shares rose more than 5 per cent after the earnings release to hit an almost 19-year high.StanChart, which earns most of its revenue in Asia and Africa, said that pretax profit for the first six months of this year reached $4.78 billion. That compared with $4.38 billion a year earlier and the $4.52 billion average of 16 analyst estimates compiled by the bank. The bank revised its guidance for the year, saying it would see income growth around the middle of a 5-7 per cent range instead of previou