Standard Bank’s Half-Year Profit Rises

Standard Bank, Africa’s largest lender by assets, reported a 4% increase in half-year profit, driven by growth in its banking businesses and robust performance in its insurance and asset management units. The South African-based bank’s headline earnings reached 22 billion rand ($1.22 billion) for the six months ending June 30, up from 21.2 billion rand in the same period last year.

Despite this growth, the bank faced challenges from currency devaluations across its operations in sub-Saharan Africa, which account for 41% of the group’s headline earnings. Net interest income from its banking business grew by 7%, while gross loans and advances saw a modest 3% increase, reaching 1.7 trillion rand. This was largely due to higher interest rates and increased competition, which dampened demand and affordability in the bank’s retail portfolios.

However, strong performance in corporate and sovereign lending, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sectors, helped offset the subdued retail growth. The bank’s total provisions for credit impairments rose by 8% to 66.8 billion rand, although credit impairment charges decreased by 15% to 8 billion rand.