Absa bank hit 5% rise in profit in H1

The South African lender Absa Group Ltd announced rise in profit of 5% in H1 recently.Despite the unstable domestic economy, It’s core retail business managed to grow in profit.

Absa, the efficient bank tried to win back ground lost under the stewardship of former parent Barclays following its split from the British lender in 2017. But it is trying to change in the midst of intense competition and a weak South African economy.

According to the bank, its headline earnings per share (HEPS) — the main profit measure in South Africa, took a hit of 5% to 918.4 cents ($0.6019) for H1, against 877.8 cents in 2018. When normalized to account for the impact of the Barclays separation, HEPS was up 3%.