* Cites credit impairments, subdued revenue
* Barclays-owned bank to report results on July 27
JOHANNESBURG, June 26 (Reuters) – Absa Group, the
South African bank majority-owned by Barclays Plc, said
on Tuesday it expects to report a drop of up to 10 percent in
first-half earnings, hit by an increase in bad loans and subdued
revenue growth.
Absa said in a statement that its headline earnings for the
six months to end-June would be as much as 10 percent below the
4.6 billion rand ($541.21 million) it reported in the same
period a year earlier.
The bank said that credit impairments, or bad loan costs,
related to mortgages had increased as property prices and
customers remained under pressure.
It also said it was struggling to improve revenue. “While
our new lending volume is improving, this is only expected to
become evident during the second half of 2012,” the bank said.
Absa is due to report its results on July 27.
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