LONDON - STANDARD Chartered, the emerging markets bank, said on Tuesday that net profit jumped 32 per cent to 1.844 billion dollars (S$2.53 billion) in the first half of 2008 as it shook off the credit crunch.

'These would be great results in any year; this year, they are exceptional,' the bank's chairman Mervyn Davies said in comments accompanying its earnings statement.

'We have a strong and sustainable business, guided by a clear and consistent strategy and we enter the second half in good shape,' he added. -- AFP