First Rand overtakes Standard Bank

FirstRand became South Africa’s biggest banking group by market value after overtaking Standard Bank Group for the first time in a decade. FirstRand climbed as much as 3.2 percent to R30.87, rising to the highest on record to a market value of about R172 billion, compared with Standard Bank’s R170.6bn. It later closed only 1.6 percent up at R30.37. The last time FirstRand was bigger than Standard Bank was in January 2001. “The market is warming to the fact there is greater earnings momentum in the business,” said Greg Saffy of RMB Morgan Stanley. He upgraded FirstRand from hold to buy and said it was the top consumer banking pick. – Bloomberg