Standard Chartered faced a protest from over 20 per cent of shareholders over its board structure yesterday and warned it could miss this year’s revenue target after higher bad debts and falling interest rates hit first-quarter earnings.

Shares in the Asia-focused bank, one of the most consistent performers during the financial crisis, fell 4 per cent.

More than 22 per cent of the London-based bank’s shareholders abstained or voted against the re-election of four directors at an annual meeting, including probably its largest investor, Singapore state investor Temasek. Almost 13 percent of shareholders also failed to back the bank’s pay policy.

Standard Chartered said it was still on course to achieve an 11th consecutive year of record profits, driven by strong Asian markets, but it would ease back on hiring. – (Reuters)