Standard Bank Lesotho
Landlocked within South Africa, with a population of less than 2 million and generally poor, it’s hardly surprising that Lesotho’s leading bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Standard Bank Group of South Africa, a behemoth in relative terms. Yet despite profits of just 54.3m Loti ($8.4m) – less than some of Standard Bank’s branches in South Africa – the bank continues to invest in Lesotho’s financial infrastructure and grow its profits.
In 2004, profits were up 13%, leading to a modest improvement in the return on equity to 29.8% – a tidy return for the parent group.
“The decline of the textile industry, one of Lesotho’s most important, because of the growth of textile exports from the East as well as the strengthening South African Rand [which the local currency is pegged to] have posed an appreciable challenge. We were able to deal with this because our customer portfolio is diverse, covering all industries and market segments,” says Colin Addis, managing director.
The judges also noted Standard Bank’s continued investment in technology infrastructure, the latest initiative being to link the country’s ATMs to the Maestro network. The bank already dominates the market in terms of points of representation.
