FirstRand Ltd. reported normalized earnings attributable to ordinary equity holders of 27.89 billion South African rand under IFRS 9 for the fiscal year ended June 30, up 6% from 26.41 billion rand under IAS 39 in the same period in 2018.
Headline earnings for the period came in at 27.89 billion rand, up from 26.51 billion rand a year earlier. Headline EPS was 497.2 cents, up from 472.7 cents a year ago. Return on equity ticked down to 22.8% from 23.0% over the period.
Normalized net interest income before impairment of advances amounted to 60.30 billion rand, up 18% on a yearly basis from 51.25 billion rand. Fee and commission income rose year over year to 30.97 billion rand from 28.53 billion rand. Insurance income also increased, to 4.13 billion rand from 3.92 billion rand.
The South African financial services group booked an impairment charge of 10.50 billion rand in the period, a 23% yearly increase from 8.57 billion rand. Operating expenses amounted to 54.14 billion rand, compared to 47.66 billion rand incurred in the same period a year ago.
The group's common equity Tier 1 ratio was 12.1% as of June 30, compared to 11.5% a year earlier. At the end of June, its leverage ratio stood at 7.5%, up from 7.1% a year ago.
FirstRand declared a final dividend of 152.0 cents per ordinary share, up from 145.0 cents per ordinary share a year ago. The final dividend will be paid Sept. 30. A gross cash dividend amounting to 291.0 cents per ordinary share was declared for the year ended June 30, up from the year-ago 275.0 cents per ordinary share.
As of Sept. 4, US$1 was equivalent to 14.80 South African rand.
