Nedbank's First-Quarter Income Rises as Banking Assets Grow

Nedbank Group Ltd., the South African lender being spun out of Old Mutual Plc, said first-quarter net interest income expanded at least 10 percent, boosted by the country’s highest interest rates in six years.

The net interest margin for the period ended March widened from December’s 3.3 percent, the Johannesburg-based lender said in a statement on Thursday. The credit loss ratio increased, while remaining within Nedbank’s target range of 60 to 100 basis points, driven by normal seasonality effects in retail banking and higher impairments in corporate and investment banking, the lender said. The bank increased provisions.