Standard Bank Group said on 22 April 2026 that its earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders rose 12% to R12.3 billion in the first quarter of the year, and that its guidance for the year to 31 December 2026 remained unchanged.
The figures were contained in financial information for the three months ended 31 March 2026 that the group provided to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and which it published on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange news service. The group said headline earnings growth for the quarter was in line with the growth in attributable earnings.
DISCLOSURE TO ICBC
ICBC agreed in 2007 to acquire a stake of about 20% in Standard Bank. The Johannesburg-listed group publishes the quarterly financial information it provides to the Chinese lender, and the disclosure is not a formal set of interim financial results.
The unchanged guidance refers to the outlook for the 2026 financial year that the group set out with its annual results in March. For the 2025 financial year, reported on 12 March 2026, Standard Bank's headline earnings rose 11% to a record R49.2 billion, with a return on equity of 19.3% and a cost-to-income ratio of 50.2%. It declared a full-year dividend of R16.95 per share.
AFRICA'S LARGEST LENDER
Standard Bank is Africa's largest bank by assets. Headquartered in Johannesburg, it has a presence in 21 sub-Saharan African countries, four global centres and two offshore hubs, and its shares trade on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange under the ticker SBK.