Africa Regions continues to outperform South Africa. Standard Bank said that the current surge in infections and ensuing lockdowns in the Northern Hemisphere are a concern. While the broader impact thereof on the global economy, disruptions to trade and the potential knock-on impact on Africa is unclear, it is expected to be milder than that seen in 2Q20. Across most of the countries in which the group operates in sub-Saharan Africa, infection rates and lockdowns have moderated, and economic activity has recovered. The bank said that the management of the client relief portfolios continues to receive attention. As at 31 October 2020, the PBB client relief portfolio in SA had declined further to R47 billion or 8% of the PBB SA portfolio.
Approximately 80% of the remaining client relief portfolio is secured, i.e. mortgages and vehicle and asset finance loans. Taking these trends into account, total coverage for the PBB SA portfolio increased from 5.3% as at 30 June 2020 to 5.5% as at 30 October 2020. In PBB Africa Regions, the client relief portfolio declined to R4 billion. Standard Bank said that headline earnings per share (HEPS) and earnings per share (EPS) for the twelve-month period ending December2020 are expected to be more than 20% lower than HEPS of R17.66, and EPS of R15.93 reported previously.