Standard Bank’s plan to increase its stake in its Angola business has been held up by outstanding approvals from the oil rich-country’s authorities.
The lender’s CFO, Arno Daehnke, said Africa’s largest bank by assets was forging ahead with plans to increase its exposure to Angola.
“We like to buy more in Angola. We think there is an attractive proposition there. Regrettably, it has taken a bit of time with Angolan authorities to get that done. We are still working through the initial public offering (IPO) of our Angolan entity and getting our shareholding to 75%,” he said on Thursday in an investor call.
The Angolan government last year announced plans to sell as much as a 34% stake in Standard Bank de Angola SA through an IPO.
This is after the government seized a 49% stake that was controlled by a former insurance tycoon who is serving a nine-year prison term.
Standard Bank owns about 51% of the Angolan business.
The reform agenda that Angola has embarked on includes selling off state-owned assets. It has completed 89 such transactions since 2019, with 74 more assets up for sale including Unitel, Angola’s largest mobile operator.
Standard Bank is present in 20 African countries, including SA.
Daehnke said the group had downgraded Mozambique’s sovereign debt.
“We have some pressure in Mozambique, where we have downgraded the Mozambique sovereign [debt]. It is not a default but a downgrade and we have provided for that,” he said.
Financial services group Old Mutual has reduced its exposure to government bonds in its Africa portfolio as many sovereigns on the continent come under mounting fiscal pressure.
In recent years, numerous African countries have seen sovereign debt rating downgrades, including Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Zambia and Botswana.
In Ghana and Zambia, sovereign debt was restructured after defaults.
Standard Bank reported resilient performance in the first five months of its financial year despite market volatility, and it remains committed to delivering previous guidance for revenue, cost-to-income and return on equity.
Releasing an update for the five months ended May on Thursday, the group said, as reported in April, that headline earnings grew 10% in rand in the first quarter and for the first five months of 2025 group headline earnings grew at a similar rate.
On a constant currency basis, headline earnings grew by the mid-teens, period on period.
Subject to market developments, the currency effect is expected to moderate in the second half of the year as the devaluations experienced in 2024 feed into the base.
The group’s return on equity for the period remained well anchored within the target range of 17%-20%.
“Despite the considerable uncertainty and market volatility, the group’s established and well-diversified franchise continued to deliver a resilient performance,” it said.
The group added that balance sheet growth had been slower than expected as elevated uncertainty and a delay in interest rate cuts negatively affected demand for credit, particularly in SA.
The net interest margin declined period on period as the effect of lower average interest rates and competitive pricing, particularly in the SA mortgage market, was partially offset by the positive mix effect, as the Africa regions portfolio grew faster than the SA portfolio.
Net interest income was flat period on period. Standard Bank’s growing and increasingly entrenched client base drove continued strong growth in net fee and commission revenue.
Non-interest revenue grew by the mid-teens.
Credit impairment charges were lower due to the slower book growth as well as a continued slowdown in early arrears and lower inflows into non-performing loans in personal and private banking.
Standard Bank’s credit loss ratio for the five-month period was just outside the top end of its through-the-cycle range of 70-100 basis points, but lower than a year ago.
The group will report its first-half results on August 14.
Update: June 19 2025
This story has been updated with new information.
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