Johannesburg - Barclays Africa Group posted an expected 14% rise in full-year earnings on Tuesday, boosted chiefly by a decline in bad loan costs in its retail and commercial mortgages.
The African subsidiary of Britain's Barclays Plc said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 1 396.6 cents in the year to end-December, from 1 227.6c a year earlier.
The results are the first since Barclays sold most of its African operations to lender Absa in exchange for a bigger stake in Africa's third-biggest banking group.
That acquisition boosted headline earnings by 14% to R1.923bn.
The bank is aiming to be one of the top three banks by revenue in Kenya, Ghana, Botswana and Zambia, its four biggest markets outside South Africa, chief executive Maria Ramos told reporters.
Barclays, the first of South Africa's top four banks to report earnings this season, said credit impairments, or bad loan costs, improved 21% to R7bn.
Net interest income, or profit made from lending, rose 10% to R32.35bn. Revenue from charges such as fees and commissions grew 5% to R27.1bn.
Absa shares are down 6% this year, a slower decline than rivals such as No 2 lender FirstRand, which has dropped 13%, and Standard Group, which has lost more than 9%.
The African subsidiary of Britain's Barclays Plc said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 1 396.6 cents in the year to end-December, from 1 227.6c a year earlier.
The results are the first since Barclays sold most of its African operations to lender Absa in exchange for a bigger stake in Africa's third-biggest banking group.
That acquisition boosted headline earnings by 14% to R1.923bn.
The bank is aiming to be one of the top three banks by revenue in Kenya, Ghana, Botswana and Zambia, its four biggest markets outside South Africa, chief executive Maria Ramos told reporters.
Barclays, the first of South Africa's top four banks to report earnings this season, said credit impairments, or bad loan costs, improved 21% to R7bn.
Net interest income, or profit made from lending, rose 10% to R32.35bn. Revenue from charges such as fees and commissions grew 5% to R27.1bn.
Absa shares are down 6% this year, a slower decline than rivals such as No 2 lender FirstRand, which has dropped 13%, and Standard Group, which has lost more than 9%.