Johannesburg - Nedbank, South Africa's fourth largest banking group, reported a better-than-expected 15 percent rise in full-year earnings on Monday after growing income from both lending and fees on one hand, and slower growth in debt costs on the other.
The bank, majority owned by insurer Old Mutual, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 1,829 cents in the year to end-December, from 1,590 cents a year earlier.
A Thomson Reuters SmartEstimate had forecast earnings rising to 1,783 cents per share.
Headline earnings, the main measure of profit in South Africa, exclude certain one-time items.
Non-interest revenue gained nearly 12 percent to 19.36 billion rand, while net interest income, the measure of earnings from lending, rose 7.8 percent to 21.22 billion rand.
Impairment charges were up 7 percent to 5.565 billion rand.
The lender will pay a full-year dividend of 895 cents a share, up 19 percent from a year earlier and higher than analysts' expectations of 878 cents per share. - Reuters