SEOUL: Standard Chartered Plc's South Korean unit has paid its first dividend of 100 billion won ($92.1 million) since being acquired by the emerging markets-focused bank in 2005.
"We will have an appropriate level of dividend each year for shareholders from now on," said Standard Chartered First Bank Chief Executive Richard Hill.
Hill added that the bank had invested 5 trillion won in South Korea over the past six years.
The London-based bank, which generates more than four-fifths of its profit in Asia and other emerging markets, said it was confident of further progress in Asia's No.4 economy, promising to help Korean companies trade and invest in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
"We are completely committed to Korea," group Chief Executive Peter Sands told a press conference in Seoul on Thursday.
Standard Chartered First Bank plans to close 27 of its 418 branches as it restructures its network amid growth in internet and mobile banking services.
"We are constantly reshaping our branch network in all our markets depending upon the way the population and economy moves." Sands said.
The bank plans to test mini-branches, as used in India, in an effort to meet fast-changing customer needs.
Sands added that the bank had no plans to move its London headquarters, saying it would be a big distraction for shareholders and to creating shareholder value.
Profit at Standard Chartered climbed 19 percent in 2010, and the bank said it made a record start to this year with strong growth in Asian markets.
"We have grown quite rapidly and we have done so in a very deliberate way," Sands said, adding that pre-tax annual profit had jumped sixfold to $6 billion over the past 10 years.
Standard Chartered was the first European bank to open a branch in South Korea.
It later expanded its presence with the acquisition of Korea First Bank in 2005. South Korea is now its second-biggest market.
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