Johannesburg - Nedbank Group [JSE:NED], South Africa's
fourth-largest lender, said its full-year earnings rose by as much as 28%,
boosted by higher non-interest revenues and a better-performing retail unit.
Nedbank, like other banks in Africa's top economy, has been
on a push to boost the money it makes from transactions, to offset weakness in
loan demand.
The bank, which is majority owned by insurer Old Mutual
[JSE:OML], said in a statement on Monday it expects to report a 23% to 28%
increase in diluted headline earnings per share for the year to end-December.
That compares with an average estimate of a 25% increase in a poll of 14 analysts by Thomson Reuters.
Bigger rival Absa has also flagged its own profits will
increase by as much as 22%.
Nedbank is due to report its full-year financial results on February 29. Its shares were up 0.94% at R160.49 at 07:43 GMT, compared with a 0.12% rise in the Top 40 - (Tradeable) [JSE:J200] index.