By Elena Vardon
Standard Bank Group stuck to its annual guidance after reporting a strong performance for the first five months of the year.
The South African bank on Thursday reiterated that it expects banking revenue growth in the mid-to-high single digits for 2025 with the banking-cost-to-income ratio flat to down on-year. Group return on equity should be anchored in the 17% to 20% targeted range, it said.
"Despite the considerable uncertainty and market volatility, the group's established and well diversified franchise continued to deliver a resilient performance," it said.
For the first half of the year, the lender's headline earnings growth is forecast to be slower than the on-year growth recorded for the first five months--which was around 10%, similar to the first quarter's rate--due to particularly strong performance in June 2024. Return on equity for the five-month period was within the guided range for the year, it added.
Standard Bank flagged slower-than-expected balance-sheet growth in the five months ended May 31 due to macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty and the negative impact on credit from a delay in interest-rate cuts, especially in South Africa.
This led to an on-period decline in net interest margin and flat net interest income. Its effect on the top line was partly offset by growth in its Africa regions portfolio and higher net fee and commission income as well as trading revenue growth, it noted.
The bank said cost growth was slightly ahead of revenue growth for the period, as expected at this point in the year.
Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-19-25 0241ET
