JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African investment bank Investec on Thursday reported a one percent rise in first-quarter operating income, while bad debt losses fell 17 percent.

The asset manager, also listed in London, said loans and advances were unchanged at 17.2 billion pounds ($29 billion) while third party assets under management were 114.9 billion pounds in the three months to end June, an increase of five percent.
Investec, which has been hit by souring economies in its key markets in the United Kingdom and Australia, said the sale of some businesses to the Bank of Queensland became effective on Thursday.
It is also working on a separate sale for its UK-based mortgage business, Kensington.($1 = 0.5916 British Pounds)
(Reporting by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura. Editing by Jane Merriman)
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