17 May 2012
South African investment bank and asset manager Investec posted a 25.9% decline in full-year earnings due to bad loans hitting its Australian unit and a weak performance by its investment banking arm.
Investec, which is also listed in London, said diluted adjusted earnings per share totalled 30.1p in the year through March, compared with 40.6p a year earlier.
Investec warned in March adjusted and headline earnings per share would decline as much as 27%.
Net interest income, a measure of earnings from lending, totalled £699 million, up from £681.47 million.
Impairments, or bad debt costs, rose 2.2% to £325.1 million.
Shares of Investec are down 1.6% this year, lagging a 4.9% rise in Johannesburg's Top-40 index of blue chips.
