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Johannesburg - Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] said first-half profit rose 61% after Africa’s largest lender by assets sold Brazilian operations and part of its London unit.
Net income climbed to R13.2bn from R8.24bn a year earlier, the Johannesburg-based lender said in a statement on Friday. Earnings per share excluding one-time items advanced 27% to R6.51, while the bank increased its dividend 17% to R3.03 a share. Operating expenses climbed 11%.
“The underlying banking operations are solid and the big positive is the dividend up 17% and it seems the tier 1 capital situation is solid now,” said Patrice Rassou, head of equities at Sanlam's investment-management unit in Cape Town.
“Cost growth looks quite hefty” and the revenue increase seems weaker than that of peers Nedbank [JSE:NED] and Barclays Africa [JSE:BGA], he said.
Standard Bank completed the sales of its London-based global-markets business to the lender’s 20% shareholder the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and sold its entire interest in Brazil’s Banco Standard de Investimentos SA during the six months.
The lender also benefited from an insurance claim on missing aluminum stockpiles in China.
South Africa faces “downside risks such as uncertainty in the labour market, inconsistent domestic electricity supply, prices of mining-related commodities and vulnerable global growth,” Standard Bank said in the statement. The lender will “strive for operational efficiency through increased digitisation,” it said.
Standard Bank dropped 1.75% to R152 at 12:06 in Johannesburg. The six-member FTSE/JSE Africa Banks Index fell 1.27%.
