Standard Bank reports 43% drop in half-year profits

Standard Bank said on Thursday its half-year profits dropped by 43%, in the middle of a forecast decline of between 30% and 50%.

The lender, the continent’s largest by assets, said its headline earnings per share – the main profit measure in South Africa – for the six months to June 30 stood at 473.8 cents($0.2742), versus 837.4 cents reported a year earlier.