South African banking stocks slide after Absa warns that its first-half profit likely fell by as much as 10 percent, undermined by bad loan costs and slow revenue growth.
“I am quite bearish on the industry as a whole,” says Charles Russell, a research analyst at Macquarie First South Securities.
“This is what we are going to see from all the other banks. It will not necessarily come through in the results right now, we will see in their December results and possibly this time next year results.”
Absa is the biggest decliner among blue-chips, plunging nearly 8 percent. Africa's biggest bank, Standard, is down 3.6 percent at 110.81 rand, while No. 4 lender, Nedbank, is 2.8 percent weaker at 173.03 rand. FirstRand sheds 2.1 percent to 27.04 rand. - Reuters