Standard Bank recorded a 17 per cent rise in its revenue for the 2012 fiscal year.

Its results released on Thursday, showed that the bank, which also trades as Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, recorded a 32 per cent growth in transactional products and services revenue, while transactional banking revenues grew by 14 per cent.

The statement by the bank said that the growth in its indices was as a result of its focus on maintaining its position in South Africa as well as the growth in chosen markets in other African countries.

It added that there was increased focus over the last few years to gain new customers, win new mandates and increase its reach.

The bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jacko Maree, said, “Income growth far exceeded cost growth in the rest of Africa, resulting in a lower cost-to-income ratio for the region, and allowing excellent revenue growth to translate into even better headline earnings growth of 68 per cent.

“Also, liberty results were particularly strong with headline earnings up by 42 per cent as a result of favourable investment markets and steady performance from its retail insurance business in South Africa. We have made good progress in right-sizing our operations outside Africa.

Speaking on the future plans of the bank, Maree said as a bank servicing the real economy, it would continue to provide its customers with the financial services products and services they needed to grow.

He said, “We will continue to manage the group for long-term profitability by investing appropriately in our diverse portfolio of businesses and in the capability and wellbeing of our people, while applying a disciplined and prudent approach to risk.

“We understand that our primary aim to improve the returns we deliver to our shareholders requires that we create lasting value for all our stakeholders.”

Meanwhile, trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday showed that equity trading activities rebounded after three consecutive days of losses.

Specifically, the market capitalisation of the listed equities was up by 0.12 per cent or N13bn from N10.474tn on Wednesday, to close at N10.487tn.

Similarly, the NSE All-Share Index rose by 41.65 basis points or 0.12 per cent to close on Thursday, at 32,772.73 basis points up from 32,731.08 points the previous day.

Source: Punch (By Udeme Ekwere)