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Feb 12 2012 15:59
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Johannesburg - Absa, South Africa's biggest retail bank, on Tuesday joined listed counterpart FirstRand in warning of difficult trading conditions.
In a Stock Exchange News Service (Sens) announcement, Absa said it expected headline earnings per share (heps) to fall between 15% and 25% when it reported its interim figures ended June.
The group described the current weak economic climate as "challenging" and added that its operating performance had been knocked by increasing bad debt levels, lower interest margins on the back of declining interest rates, and a reduction in the value of investment portfolios.
Earnings at Absa Bank - the banking operation of the group - are expected to be between 25% and 35% lower than for the six months ended June 30 2008.
In 2008 Absa received a R636m boost from the sale of its stake in Visa, a fillip that won't be repeated in 2009.
In addition, Absa has been forced to write-down the values of its "investments" in various JSE-listed companies owing to large defaults in the single stock futures (SSF) markets.
The group took over stakes in Blue Financial Services, ConvergeNet, Pinnacle Point Group and Sekunjalo in 2008 following defaults at Cortex Securities.
Pinnacle Point - the property development group in which Absa took over nearly R1bn of exposure - has seen its share price decline further in 2009.
Its share price has slid from a 12-month high of 100c to a low of 15c a share and is currently trading at around 25c.
- Fin24.com