Standard Chartered International is to shore up its investment portfolios in Africa as a result of the good first-half profits the bank recorded at the end of June this year. The bank also plans to launch for extra cash from shareholders to fund ambitious growth in its strong emerging market areas in Asia and the Middle East. Pre-tax profits surged 9.7 per cent to a record $2.8billion in the six months to the end of June, compared with $2.6 billion dollars in the same part of last year. Net profits advanced 5.5 per cent to $1.9 billion, the British-based group said, adding that it would launch a $1.69-billion rights issue. "We have achieved record results through our disciplined management approach and the diversity of our business and markets in, Africa and Asia the Middle East," Chairman John Peace said in the earnings released. "I believe that the bank has a very clear and focused strategy and we have no intention of deviating from this. "Our strong levels of capital and liquidity have given us a competitive advantage and our decision to raise further capital today will reinforce this and support our future growth." Standard Chartered said it remained cautious about the global outlook amid "testing times" for the banking industry. "These remain testing times for banks and we remain cautious about the near term global economic outlook," Peace added. The bank also revealed that revenues soared 13.9 per cent to $7.96 billion in the first half but its bad debts more than doubled to $1.1 billion. "The group has continued to deliver record profits in the face of a difficult environment. We expect the take-up of the placing to be strong," said NCB equities analyst Simon Willis. Meanwhile, recent press reports suggested that Standard Chartered was mulling the purchase of some Asian assets from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). RBS, which is now 70 per cent owned by the state, said yesterday that it would sell part of its Asian operations to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group for $418 million. The embattled group added that it was in "advanced" talks over the sale of its remaining Asian assets. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana