Standard Chartered unveils ninth successive record annual profit Analysts warned that Standard Chartered's performance this year could be hit by a slowdown in growth in Hong Kong and Singapore, which together account for more than a third of the bank's increase in pre-tax profits. Barclays Capital said the impact on the bank was likely to be relatively less for Standard Chartered than some of its local market rivals. Nomura retained its "buy" rating on the shares, saying that the bank's exposure to growth markets still made it attractive to investors. "As long as growth prospects for Standard Chartered remain, it should maintain its premium valuation and, as growth prospects improve, valuations should benefit on the back of it," said Nomura. Standard Chartered shares closed down 4½p at £16.17½. The bank will pay a 76 cents dividend for 2011, up from 69.15 cents last year. Like HSBC on Monday, Standard Chartered said many of its main markets were being disrupted by European banks attempting to sell off assets as they cut the size of their balance sheets. Mr Sands said this could be to "our advantage." He added that he was worried that international regulators were fixated on preventing another collapse like Lehman Brothers and not looking at the risks created by the expansion of central bank balance sheets. Meanwhile, Anglo-Australian fund manager Henderson was hit by net outflows of £6.4bn last year as clients reacted to the eurozone debt crisis. Institutional clients withdrew £4.7bn from the company during the 12 months ending December 31 - although funds under management grew by 4pc to £64.3bn, helped by the acquisition of rival Gartmore last year. Henderson saw pre-tax profits slump to £13m during the period, compared with £76.5m a year earlier. Profits were hit by a series of one-off costs, including a £41.7m charge for amortisation and a further £33.2m relating to employee share awards at Gartmore. Shares in the company closed down 9.1 at 119.2p.