HONG KONG (Reuters) - Standard Chartered ( SCBFF ) announced on Friday a $1.5 billion share buyback and a higher earnings target, after reporting its annual profit rose 18% on the back of record growth in its wealth business and strong markets performance.

The London-based bank reported pretax profit for 2024 of $6 billion, up from $5.1 billion the year before and slightly below the $6.2 billion average of analysts' forecasts as compiled by the bank.

StanChart also announced a final interim dividend of 28 cents per share.

The bank upgraded its 2026 return on tangible equity (RoTE) target to "approaching 13%" from the 12% estimated earlier.

(Reporting by Selena Li; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)