Nedbank looks to Africa for expansion

5 Mar 2012

Nedbank's earnings are expected to rise by 25% with diluted headline earnings of 1 340 cents per share for the year to December, up from 1 069 cents a year earlier and Fin24 says that net interest income will reach about R18-billion.

Nedbank's bad debts dropped from R6,19-billion to R5,33-billion. Fin24 says that the recessionary conditions in 2009 meant that many borrowers were unable to service their mortgage bonds but this pattern started to change in 2010, resulting in lower levels of bad debt.

Meanwhile Business Day reports that Nedbank is still actively pursuing options in other parts of Africa and has until 2014 to take up to 20% of Togo-based Ecobank that would allow it to leapfrog some of its larger rivals to become one of the largest banks in Africa.

Quoting Nedbank chief executive Mike Brown, Business Day says that Ecobank has one of the largest customer bases in Africa with more than 2 000 retail banking outlets in 36 African countries.

Last year Nedbank provided Ecobank with $285-million to fund its activities, including the purchase of Nigeria's Oceanic Bank.
Fin24.
Business Day.
Nedbank Investor Relations.