* H1 Headline EPS 458.2 vs 421.3 cents
* Net interest income R15.69 bln vs R13.32 bln
* Credit impairments rise 35 pct
* Shares up 18 pct this year
By Helen Nyambura-Mwaura
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Standard Bank will
press ahead with expensive plans to open another 30 branches in
sub-Saharan Africa this year, aiming to cash in on booming loan
and deposit growth even as the costs of such investment hit its
bottom line.
Africa’s biggest bank by assets, Standard is 20 percent
owned by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
. It blamed a below-forecast 9 percent increase in
first-half profit on Thursday on costs of investment.
“It really has been growing rapidly and we’ve continued to
invest, which is part of the reason for the cost growth that
you’ve seen,” Chief Executive Jacko Maree told Reuters Insider,
referring to its 16 operations across the continent.
“But if you look at the profitability in Africa you saw the
profits growing by some 80 percent, just looking at the
on-the-ground banks on the continent, which is a very big jump.”
Continued…
