StanChart cuts 7 minnow businesses

Standard Chartered is leaving seven countries in Africa and the Middle East where it is sub-scale as it seeks to improve profits by narrowing its focus to faster-growing markets in the region, it said on Thursday.

The bank will fully exit Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, likely by trying to sell its business in those markets.

It will also close its retail banking operations in Tanzania and Ivory Coast to focus solely on corporate banking.

The move marks a major shift for Standard Chartered, which has been among the biggest European lenders to invest in the continent in recent years at a time when peers have been withdrawing.

The cuts would allow it to focus on bigger and faster growing economies in the region, such as Saudi Arabia where it has opened its first branch, and Egypt.

Prior to the announcement, StanChart operated in 15 African markets and 10 in the Middle East, employing around 15,000 staff, a major presence that had made it "unique among global banks" in the region, according to Citi analyst Yafei Tian.