Standard Chartered Q1 profit down 22%

Asia-focused British bank Standard Chartered said Tuesday its first-quarter profit fell more than 20 percent year-on-year, missing analysts' expectations.

Profit before tax for the three months ended March 31 fell 22 percent to $1.47 billion from $1.88 billion in the same period last year, the bank said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The figure was below the average estimate of $1.6 billion predicted by four analysts polled by Bloomberg News.

"Trading conditions remain challenging and the actions we are taking to de-risk, cut costs and build capital are having an impact on near-term performance," group chief executive Peter Sands said in the filing.

Sands said the bank's underlying business volumes "generally remain strong".

Loan impairment increased 80 percent to $476 million from $265 million last year, while operating income for the period fell four percent year-on-year.

Former JPMorgan investment bank head Bill Winters is to replace Sands, who had issued profit warnings in the past year that sparked shareholder calls for a boardroom cull.

Bosses at the bank announced in March that they would forgo their bonuses after 2014 profits fell by more than a third.

The British lender said profit after tax for 2014 came in at $2.51 billion, down from $3.99 billion in 2013. It described the result as "disappointing".

Standard Chartered said in January it would axe 2,000 jobs around the world this year as it tries to make savings of $400 million in a structural overhaul.