Standard Bank is rocking

JOHANNESBURG - The largest bank in Africa achieved impressive results in 2023, as the company’s earnings grew by almost 30 per cent.

Standard Bank released its results for the 2023 financial year today, which revealed strong results.

CEO Sim Tshabala said this strong performance is underpinned by its robust and growing franchise and reflects the positive momentum in all its businesses.

Franchise

Standard Bank delivered earnings growth of 27 per cent and a return on equity of 18.8 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022.

Its Africa Regions franchise contributed 42 per cent to group headline earnings, with the top eight contributors being Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Standard Bank’s client franchise health showed improvements across several metrics. Active customers grew by 6 per cent to 18.8 million, with growth recorded in both South Africa and the rest of Africa. In addition, digital retail clients in South Africa increased by 8 per cent as more clients transitioned to the company’s digital channels. Standard Bank recorded over 2.8 billion digital transactions for retail clients, up 30 per cent year on year, and distributed over R41.1 billion on behalf of its South African clients via its digital wallet platform. The bank’s insurance and asset management franchise recorded an improved insurance performance and growth in its assets under management year on year.

Since the announcement of Standard Bank’s Liberty minority buyout, the bank has received over R5.7 billion in distributions related primarily to capital optimisation.

Portfolio

In 2023, the bank successfully bought out the minorities of Liberty2Degrees, which holds an attractive portfolio of commercial properties.

The bank ended the year with a common equity tier 1 ratio of 13.7 per cent, slightly higher than the 13.4 per cent recorded at the end of 2022.

“This positions the group well to reward shareholders and continue to grow,” the company said.

Standard Bank declared a final dividend of 733 cents per share, which, when combined with the interim dividend, equates to a dividend payout ratio of 55 per cent for 2023.