Nedbank boss to aid Ecobank to stem losses
A loss contributed by its pan-African banking associate marred Nedbank’s impressive growth in interest and fee income
Nedbank has added its Corporate and Investment Bank head Brian Kennedy to Ecobank Transnational in an attempt to stem losses at its 21.2%-held associate, which led SA’s third-largest bank by assets to report its first contraction in earnings since the global financial crisis. Ecobank reported a $427.4m loss in the final quarter of 2016, offset by a $51m profit in the first quarter of 2016. Because Nedbank books its share of the pan-African lender’s profit or loss a quarter later, this translated into a R1.2bn loss from Ecobank for the half-year to June, dragging interim headline earnings down 2.9% to R5.2bn. Excluding Ecobank, Nedbank’s headline earnings rose 6.7% for the period to June. The bank last posted a decline in interim earnings in the first half of 2009, during the global financial crisis, when earnings fell 32.4% to R1.98bn. Kennedy’s appointment is subject to regulatory approval, and he will join Mfundo Nkuhlu, the head of Nedbank’s businesses in the rest of Africa. Nkuh...
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