JOHANNESBURG – Nedbank, the South African lender formerly the target of a bid from Britian’s HSBC has rejigged the structure of its ailing retail unit, as it looks to turn around the money-losing business.
Nedbank, which has been hit hard by soured home and vehicle loans, this month gave Ingrid Johnson, head of both the retail and business banking units, direct control of the retail arm.
The bank said in a statement on Friday the retail unit has been reshuffled to emphasise entry-level banking, small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The unit is now organised into four businesses: consumer banking, retail relationship bank, cards and secured lending, the bank said.
Retail relationship banking is a combination of small business services and private banking, Nedbank said. The retail unit posted a headline loss of R115 million in the six months to end-June.
Analysts had said that an acquisition by HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, would have helped Nedbank fix the business, which has been saddled with bad loans.
HSBC last month walked away from exclusive talks to take up to a 70 per cent stake in Nedbank, a deal that would have been worth around US$8 billion. – Nampa-Reuters
