Lender retains full-year profit outlook

NEDBANK Group, the South African lender controlled by Old Mutual, retained its outlook for full-year profit after net interest income gained in the first quarter. The company continued to target organic growth in diluted headline earnings per share greater than growth in nominal gross domestic product, it said in a statement yesterday. The bank predicted economic expansion in South Africa would be 2.2 percent this year with “risk remaining to the downside”, it said. The South African government growth target is 2 percent this year. Nedbank said on February 23 that full-year profit gained 14 percent to R9.8 billion and earnings per share excluding one-time items climbed 13 percent to R21.27, beating the median estimate of 14 analysts surveyed. “Economic conditions in South Africa remained weak in the first quarter as the benefits of lower oil prices and benign interest rates were largely offset by electricity supply constraints, negatively impacting business confidence,” the company said. Net interest income for the three months to March 31 rose 4.4 percent to R5.81 billion, while the net interest margin narrowed to 3.4 percent from 3.57 percent. Non-interest revenue gained 18 percent to R5.32 billion, with commission and fee income up 9.4 percent. Shares gained by 0.78 percent to close at R253.03 yesterday. – Bloomberg

VODACOM GROUP

RENE Meza, the managing director of Vodacom Group’s Tanzanian unit, has resigned to pursue other opportunities. Meza, who joined Vodacom Tanzania in 2011, would leave the wireless carrier in September, the Johannesburgbased company said yesterday. He previously worked for Bharti Airtel in Kenya and for Millicom International Cellular. “During his time with Vodacom, he doubled the network to 3 200 sites, increased the number of customers to over 12 million and led Tanzania to have the second biggest M-Pesa customer base in the Vodacom Group,” it said. M-Pesa is a mobile banking service. Tanzanian carriers are developing more sophisticated mobile banking products to boost sales, as well as seeking more spectrum to improve their networks. Shares rose 0.94 percent to close at R147.81 on the JSE. – Bloomberg

CURRO HOLDINGS

MTN GROUP

MTN GROUP has appointed the head of its Rwanda unit, Ebenezer Asante, to run its Ghanaian operations, according to a person familiar with the matter. Asante will move to the West African country after the unit’s previous chief executive Serame Taukobong resigned, according to the person, who asked not to be identified as the appointment has not been announced. MTN will hire an internal candidate to replace Asante in Rwanda, according to the person. Ghana is MTN’s fourth-biggest market in terms of subscriber numbers, after Nigeria, South Africa and Iran. MTN spokesman Chris Maroleng declined to comment. MTN Ghana spokeswoman Georgina Asare Fiagbenu also declined to comment, while a call to MTN Rwanda wasn’t put through to Asante. The shares traded 0.26 percent higher to close at R231.55. – Bloomberg