South African lender, Nedbank, said today it expects its profits for the six months to end June to be 20% lower due to the impact of COVID-19.
Nedbank, in a market trading update, said it now expects the economy to plunge by 7% this year against a 0.7% growth it had initially expected before the outbreak of COVID-19.
“While the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown emerged in March and financial market volatility in late March was extreme, impacts on our client base became more evident in April 2020 and are expected to continue,” Nedbank said in a statement.
The bank said as at the end of April it had approved and concluded loans restructures for eligible clients amounting to R81 billion, including R34 billion to its corporate investment banking clients, R42 billion to its retail and business banking customers and R4.6 billion to its wealth banking clientele.
“The bank has assisted more than 225 000 clients (out of a total credit active client base of approximately 2,5 million) with debt relief across our product range, including home loans, vehicle and asset finance, personal loans, loans to SMEs and credit cards.”
