£1.5bn bank blow

TRADERS wiped £1.5bn off the value of Standard Chartered yesterday as the bank unveiled a jump in its running costs.

Although it made £612.2m profit in the three months to September 30, up 78pc on a year earlier, this was largely due to a fall in toxic debts rather than a surge of new business or cost-cutting.

It left investors to fret over a 21pc rise in costs, to £253.6m, incurred due to rule changes made by regulators around the world. Finance chief Andy Halford said there would be an improvement in coming quarters.

Shares fell 6.1pc, or 45.4p, to 705p.