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(Bloomberg) — Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa’s largest lender by assets, said full-year profit climbed 34 percent after boosting net interest income and reducing its stake in its loss-making U.K. business.
Normalized net income climbed to 21.37 billion rand ($1.37 billion) from 15.93 billion rand a year earlier, the Johannesburg-based bank said in a statement on Thursday. Earnings per share excluding one-time items increased 27 percent to 13.59 rand, beating the 13.19 rand median estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The dividend rose 13 percent to 6.74 rand.
The bank completed the sale of a 60 percent stake in its U.K. operations to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. last year, helping boost profit and also partially exited its London business which was making losses. Standard Bank is focused on tapping growth across Africa and has operations in 20 countries on the continent, some of which are expanding faster than those in South Africa where the economy is slowing.
“The year ahead is likely to provide a demanding operating environment in which consumers and businesses will have to adapt to higher interest rates and the full effect of currency weakness,” the bank said in the statement. “Our medium-term return on equity target of between 15 percent and 18 percent remains intact. The group’s return on equity performance will, however, be affected by factors such as economic growth in South Africa and the rest of Africa, and the retention of a South African investment grade sovereign credit rating.”
