Standard Chartered reported on Thursday its first-half pretax profit rose 26 percent, beating analysts' estimates, as a strong performance from its wealth, markets and global banking businesses boosted revenue at the emerging markets-focused lender.

StanChart, which earns most of its revenue in Asia and Africa, said the reported pretax profit for the first six months of this year reached US$4.38 billion.

That compared with US$3.49 billion a year earlier and the US$3.83 billion average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by the bank.

The London-headquartered lender also announced a further US$1.3 billion share buyback that it said would start imminently. (Reuters)