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FirstRand [JSE:FSR] expects its strategy to boost lending and transaction income in its retail-banking business to continue to deliver growth against a backdrop of a sluggish South African economy.
The Johannesburg-based lender’s normalised earnings for the six months through December grew 7% to R13.34 billion, the company said in a statement.
Key Insights
FirstRand is growing market share by pushing cross-selling at its retail unit, First National Bank. The business is using its mobile app to offer a range of services to clients from insurance and car-license renewals to locating plumbing services to make customers more active, with the momentum in the business expected to continue.
FNB’s performance has helped compensate for slower growth at its corporate and investment banking business, Rand Merchant Bank, and its vehicle and asset funding division, WesBank, which only managed a 1% increase in adjusted profit in the period.
RMB will be impacted in the second half by private-equity realisations that won’t be repeated in 2019 - which will make achieving real earnings growth at the group “challenging.”
While FirstRand’s main South African rivals have expanded operations in the rest of the African continent, the lender has focused more on winning clients at home.
Its African operations will continue to show an incrementally improved performance, FirstRand said. It has also acquired UK challenger bank Aldermore to help fund its second-hand vehicle-financing business MotoNovo. Aldermore’s growth trajectory is seen slowing marginally amid Brexit and ongoing investment costs.
Market Reaction
FirstRand’s shares rose 1.6% as of 09:05 in Johannesburg, paring losses this year to 3.4%. The FTSE/JSE Africa Banks Index has climbed 1.4% in 2019.
