Standard Bank Group, which took the shocking step last week to bar this newspaper from its banking accounts later this month, because of fears of “reputational damage”, saw its share price rise more than 5% on Friday morning after releasing a trading statement for the six months to June 30.
The share price was last seen trading 5.66% higher at R192.77 on Friday, continuing a sharp upward trend in the share price from May 30, when it closed at R149.10, which means the share price has gained more than 29% in a little over two months.
The banking group said it continued “to benefit from our growing client franchise, tailwinds from higher interest rates, and elevated market volatility into June 2023”.
The bank forecast headline earnings per share to be between 33% to 38% higher in the first half – between 1 245.1 cents and 1 292c a share.
Earnings per share were expected to be between 35% and 40% higher at between 1 297.9c and 1 346c.
The bank said the first-half interim figures published in August 2022 had been restated for the impact of the new IFRS 17 accounting standard.
The bank said it would release its results on August 17. - Edward West