Banking

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South African banks face the steepest earnings slump in half a century — with some posting losses — as measures to curb the coronavirus drag the economy deeper into recession and lead to a surge in bad debts. “I have looked at each and every crisis in the last fifty-odd years and there is nothing this severe,” said Corné Conradie, an actuary and partner at auditing and consultancy firm…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — The average income of customers at South Africa’s First National Bank plummeted by about 20% during the nation’s lockdown as people took pay cuts or had less work to do. FirstRand Ltd.’s retail banking unit also experienced a “major drop off” in transactional activity and credit-card spending as businesses closed and people stayed home, FNB’s retail banking head Raj Makanjee said on a call with reporters on Tuesday. Credit growth suffered as South…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s central bank ruled out helping the government fund its runaway budget deficit by paying for its spending through loans, as the ruling party debates using the institution to fund infrastructure and development. “We do not think it is prudent to finance government directly,” Kuben Naidoo, a Reserve Bank deputy governor, said on a conference call hosted by money manager Ninety One. “It would increase inflation risks. It…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) — Kenya’s banks are likely to issue fewer loans this year and boost investments in government debt to safeguard earnings under threat from the fallout of the coronavirus. That’s the assessment of some analysts after the East African nation’s lenders released first-quarter results that showed lower profit, a surge in loan-loss provisions and a wave of debt restructurings. An economic slowdown is reducing demand for credit, leaving banks with little…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) — Kenya’s central bank maintained its benchmark interest rate to allow the effects of four consecutive cuts filter to the economy. The monetary policy committee retained the rate at 7%, Governor Patrick Njoroge said in an emailed statement Wednesday. That matched the projection of one of the three economists in a Bloomberg survey. The panel has reduced the rate by 200 basis points since November. Key Insights: The decision was a “surprising…

Nairobi (Capital Markets in Africa) — Kenya’s biggest bank by market value boosted provisions for loan losses more than sevenfold in the first quarter as the coronavirus struck East Africa’s largest economy. Equity Group Holdings increased provisions to 3.12 billion shillings ($29 million) compared with 410 million shillings a year earlier, while the board decided to withdraw its 2019 dividend to conserve cash during the pandemic, the Nairobi-based lender said in a statement on Thursday. First-quarter…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Absa Group’s warning that it may scrap its dividend for 2020 is unlikely to be the last from South African banks hard hit by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. “Banks won’t have certainty on their capital and liquidity positions until later in the year,” Nolwandle Mthombeni, an analyst at Mergence Investment Managers in Cape Town, said by phone. “So they might take a prudent approach.” While South Africa’s four…