Investec CEO Stephen Koseff told me today that the proposed sale of Kensington was part of the banking group’s decision to simplify its business: “We got a good lesson in the Crisis and are determined to simplify our business.” He admitted the timing of the purchase of the sub prime lending business was “very bad – if we’d gone into the Crisis (2008) without it, life would have been much easier.” With the recovery of the UK economy, Investec has had some approaches to buy Kensington – interest which was non-existent a year ago. Koseff says the need to simplify the business is also the driver behind the decision to offload some of Investec’s Australian operations: “We are not interested in being in businesses servicing third parties. We want to be close to our clients – like we are in SA.” – AHÂ
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African lender and asset manager Investec on Thursday reported flat earnings for the first nine months of the year, hit by a downturn in the rand currency and as it wrote fewer loans.
Investec, which is already looking to sell some of its Australia businesses, said it would also consider the sale of its British mortgage business, Kensington.
The bank said total operating income for the nine months to end-December was just 1 percent higher.
Investec, which is also listed in London and reports its results in pounds, said it was hit by the sharp slide in the rand.
Core loans fell by 9 percent to 16.8 billion pounds, while impairment losses shrunk by 26 percent.
Third party assets under management decreased by 2 percent to 108 billion pounds.
Investec’s shares were flat in Johannesburg at 0735 GMT, underperforming a 0.6 percent rise by the Top-40 index.
