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Standard Bank earmarks billions for Africa growth

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(File, Standard Bank)
(File, Standard Bank)

Johannesburg - Standard Bank [JSE:SBK] said it would spend the bulk of the $690m from the sale of its global markets unit to capitalise its SA business and to invest more in fast-growing areas like Nigeria, Angola and Mozambique.

The bank is facing stiff competition across the continent - where it has a return on equity of 21.5% - in many cases from well-heeled and aggressive domestic lenders.

The bank disposed off a 60% stake in its Standard Bank to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to concentrate on Africa where it operates in 20 countries.

"For us to put more capital into these countries now is completely justified and we have far more mature businesses than we had just three years ago," Chief Executive Ben Kruger told the Reuters Africa Investment Summit on Thursday, in reference to units outside its home South African market.

Kruger said the bank would have to make a decision on whether to convert a representative office in Ivory Coast into a branch or a fully-fledged bank by the end of the year.

Increased headline earnings

The bank's headline earnings from continuing operations increased by 20% to R21.1bn ($1.8bn) for 2014, it said on Thursday.

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