Standard Bank
South Africa’s Standard Bank acknowledges the formidable competition it faces in Africa from established foreign banks, not least Standard Chartered. Standard Chartered divested its 39% stake in the Standard Bank Group in 1987 and, in the time since, Standard Bank has been making its presence felt elsewhere on the continent. Standard Bank’s operating profit from Africa in 2003, excluding South Africa, was $108m, on net revenues of $283m. By contrast, Standard Chartered returned operating profits of $151m on net revenues of $443m for the whole of Africa. What cannot be ignored is Standard Bank’s formidable size and sparkling performance in its home market of South Africa. To put it in perspective, the rest of Africa made up just 8% of Standard Bank’s 2003 earnings. Despite only starting its northward expansion in 1988, Standard Bank is now present in 16 African countries outside South Africa, with a wider geographic footprint than any other foreign bank. “We decided to move into Africa in the late 1980s at a time when South African companies were still unwelcome in the rest of the continent,” says Jacko Maree, CEO. “We are now targeting one or two acquisitions per year, typically targeting state-owned banks which we can clean up and turnaround.” Clever acquisitions and Standard Bank’s success in applying competencies honed in South Africa, in particular corporate and investment banking and mass-market banking, impressed the judges. In 2003, Standard Bank saw local currency earnings up 102% in Lesotho, 38% in Botswana, 33% in Uganda and 32% in Swaziland. Standard Bank is targeting a 15%-20% contribution to group earnings from Africa.
