Africa's biggest banks endure a tough year

摘要

South Africa's banking sector, Africa's largest in terms of Tier 1 capital and assets, has endured yet another tough year. With the exception of FirstRand, all six of its lenders in Africa's top 25 ranking experienced falls in their dollar-denominated Tier 1 capital, reflecting the country's weak economic growth and the heavy depreciation of the rand, which lost 17% of its value versus the US currency in 2013. Standard Bank retains its position as Africa's largest and most profitable lender, with Tier 1 capital of $10.57bn and pre-tax earnings of $2.9bn, but has fallen in the global ranking from 109th to 116th place. Its nearest rival, FirstRand, has $7.83bn of capital in this year's Top 1000, while Nedbank, also from South Africa, takes third with $5.11bn (Barclays Africa Group, previously called Absa Group, would have come third with $5.9bn of capital, but is excluded from the main ranking because it is a subsidiary of the UK's Barclays). Together, these three South African lenders have $23.5bn of Tier 1 capital, which is a drop of 3.5% from the 2013 ranking.