Standard Chartered third quarter profit rises 31 percent, beating forecasts

HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) - Standard Chartered <STAN.L> reported on Wednesday a better than expected 31.3 percent rise in quarterly profit before tax, as the British lender attempts to bring down stubbornly high costs and boost flatlining revenues.

The bank posted a profit before tax of $1.1 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30, above the $814 million (640.59 million pounds)profit in the same period a year ago and higher than the $978 million average of analysts' forecasts.

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee and Lawrence White; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)